Affording Seminary
It's a real possibility.
We offer one of the most robust financial aid programs in theological education because we want Candler to be a real possibility for you.
In 2021-22, with the support of generous donors, we awarded $6.4 million in financial aid, with 98% of all students and 100% of Master of Divinity students receiving scholarship assistance. And now, incoming MDiv, MRL, and ThM students entering in fall 2022 will receive even more assistance. Learn more.
How does that level of support happen? It starts with our belief that we are partners with you in making seminary affordable. We listen to your personal story and then we talk together about making sound financial decisions for your education—decisions that suit you and your unique situation. And we make it easy for you: your application for admission also serves as your application to a host of scholarships.
The typical financial aid package includes a combination of a Candler scholarship; grants or scholarships from outside sources like churches, annual conferences and community organizations; and federal student loans. Each year, Candler students receive nearly $1 million in external funding, which we can help you find. Many students also take advantage of on- or off-campus part-time employment—and we can help you find that, too!
At other schools, the financial conversation stops after aid packages are awarded, but not here. Candler continues to partner with you as you go through seminary, offering a comprehensive financial literacy training program tailored to MDiv students and additional events open to all students to sharpen your money management skills—skills that will serve you while you're in school and beyond.
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Candler Firsthand
–Donnell WilliamsonMDiv '18
“Accepting one's call to ministry can be spiritually awakening and financially unsettling. Upon my arrival at Candler, I found myself at a unique intersection of pursuing my life's work and finding the resources to acquire it. Candler's Office of Financial Aid extended first-class service in helping me to secure funding so that my commitment to social change and justice becomes a reality.”
–Jayde RasbandMDiv '18
“Whether emailing us about scholarship opportunities, reminding us about deadlines, answering our questions, or organizing the support we receive from outside sources, the Office of Financial Aid always does what is best for the students of Candler. They make funding, the hardest part of theological education, more accessible and less stressful.”
–Jad DenmarkMDiv '12
“My wife, Shelly, and I were called to seminary at the same time, and we had three children under the age of six! We wondered how we were going to make that happen. Candler's financial aid package was the answer.”