Accreditation
Program Accreditation
Wycliffe College, along with TST and each of its member schools, is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). ATS is a peer organization of more than 250 institutions that conduct post-baccalaureate professional and academic degree programs in the theological disciplines.
The following Wycliffe College degree programs are approved:
- Master of Divinity (MDiv)
- Master of Theological Studies( MTS)
- Master of Religion (MRel) (discontinued)
- Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MA)
- Master of Theology (ThM)
- Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Theological Studies (PhD)
The MTS is also approved as a Comprehensive Distance Education Program.
The Commission Contact information is:
The Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada10 Summit Park Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15275
Telephone: (412) 788-6505 Fax: (412) 788-6510
Website: www.ats.edu
University of Toronto
Wycliffe College meets University standards in its faculty appointments and course requirements in its conjoint programs. It also conforms to University policy in its grading policies and procedures and in its academic discipline. Wycliffe students have a right of appeal to the University in academic matters.
Wycliffe students who graduate from conjoint programs receive diplomas signed by the principal, the director of TST, and the chancellor of the University of Toronto. Upon graduation, they become alumni of the University of Toronto.
OCGS
The Doctor of Theology and the Master of Theology programs are approved as graduate degrees by the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS), which ensures quality graduate education for the province.
Statement of Institutional Effectiveness
The Commission on Accrediting for the ATS requires accredited schools to publish a statement regarding the school’s educational effectiveness to ensure that educational programs have their intended impact for the good of the Church and the world.
Quality assurance for the MDiv and MTS degrees is handled internally by Wycliffe and is reviewed cyclically by ATS and by the University of Toronto quality assurance process (UTQAP). Wycliffe's MDiv and MTS program outcomes serve as reference points for institutional review. Program outcomes for the PhD, DMin, ThM, and MA are handled by the Toronto School of Theology.
Wycliffe measures program effectiveness for the MTS and MDiv by many means, including student feedback, graduation rates, time to graduation, field placement reports (where applicable), vocational placement data after graduation, and standardized ATS-wide satisfaction surveys for graduands and alumni.
Recent Data
Our enrollment has held steady over the last five years as we develop new programs to meet the changing needs of the church and our students. Our students tell us in the ATS Entering Student Questionnaire that the most important reason for attending Wycliffe includes the academic reputation of our school, the quality of the faculty and comfort with the school’s doctrinal positions.
On a scale of 1 to 5, students taking the ATS Graduating Student Questionnaire over the last 5 years (2015-2019) overwhelmingly agree with the statements "I have been satisfied with my academic experience here" and "If I had to do it over, I would still come here." For MDiv graduates (a sample of 63 over the last 5 years), agreement with these statements is 4.4 on a scale of 5; and for other program graduates, agreement averages at 4.6.
Time-to-graduation and job placement data appear below:
Master of Divinity - 30 credits required
| Graduating Year | Average Time to Graduation | % of students completing within 5 years | % of students taking longer than 5 years |
| 2023 | 4.4 | 67% | 33% |
| 2022 | 4.25 | 72% | 28% |
| 2021 | 4.25 | 67% | 33% |
| 2020 | 3.4 years | 100% | 0 |
| 2019 | 4 years | 87.5% | 12.5% |
| 2018 | 4.14 years | 71% | 29% |
| 2017 | 3.20 years | 73.3% | 26.7% |
| 2016 | 3.00 years | 100% | 0 |
Master of Theological Studies - 20 credits required
| Graduating Year | Average Time to Graduation | % of students completing within 5 years | % of students taking longer than 5 years |
| 2023 | 5.25 | 42% | 58% |
| 2022 | 4.5 | 64% | 36% |
| 2021 | 4.5 | 64% | 36% |
| 2020 | 3.95 | 78% | 22% |
| 2019 | 4.6 years | 67% | 33% |
| 2018 | 4.16 years | 63% | 37% |
| 2017 | 2.90 years | 71% | 29% |
| 2016 | 2.85 years | 81% | 19% |
These figures include students who take leaves of absence, transfer, and/or graduate from another program.
Placement
The following data is collected within 6 months of each graduating class:
| Program | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| MDiv | ||||
| Vocational Placment | 77% | 60% | 78.5% | 75% |
| Non-vocational Placement | ||||
| Continuing Education | 15% | 7% | 7% | 25% |
| Seeking Placement | 7% | 7% | ||
| Data Unavailable | 8% | 26% | 7.5% | |
| MTS | ||||
| Vocational Placement | 44% | 21% | 12.5% | 67% |
| Non-vocational Placement | 18.5% | 21% | 6% | 13% |
| Continuing Education | 12.5% | 14% | 37.5% | 13% |
| Seeking Placement | ||||
| Data Unavailable | 25% | 44% | 44% | 7% |
Graduate Degrees
Wycliffe confers four graduate degrees conjointly with the University of Toronto: the MA, the ThM, the DMin, and the PhD. All these programs are administered by the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies at the Toronto School of Theology, in which Wycliffe is an active and committed participant. Usually, Wycliffe students have Wycliffe College faculty supervisors, although they can take courses elsewhere in TST or in the University of Toronto.
These programs were evaluated in 2021 as part of the University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process. Four external reviewers (from the University of Edinburgh, McGill University, Yale University, and Union Theological Seminary in New York) reported that "TST sets a standard for quality in theological education in Canada, and is one of very few institutions that can aspire to this same profile internationally."
We periodically survey the graduates of these programs. Average scores exceed 4 out of 5 in most categories.
The MA in theological studies
This new program received its first students in 2017, and as of the summer of 2020, nineteen students had completed it. All but two were either employed or enrolled in other advanced academic programs.
The DMin program
The DMin program is not intended to prepare students for new employment but to enrich their current ministries. All DMin students are employed in "ministry bases" and are therefore already placed at graduation.
In a survey of recent DMin graduates conducted in 2018, 100% of fifteen respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "My DMin thesis has been valuable in my professional life," and fourteen agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "My DMin experience has impacted my practice of ministry after completion of the program."
The ThM program
Of nineteen graduates from Wycliffe's ThM program in the past five years,
- 9 proceeded to further studies (in most cases, PhD programs)
- 3 are ordained or lay ministers
- 2 are teaching full-time or part-time
- 3 are otherwise employed (librarianship; IT; administration)
- Others haven't kept in touch
The PhD program
This program received its first registrants in 2015, and as of summer 2020, eleven students had graduated from it. At that time all but two were employed (or, in one case, was enrolled in postdoctoral studies).
|
Employed - Ecclesiastical Leadership |
27.27% |
|
Other employment + sessional teaching |
18.18% |
|
Unemployed |
18.18% |
|
Employed - tenure-track faculty |
9.09% |
|
Continuing graduate education |
9.09% |
|
Other employment |
9.09% |
|
Sessional teaching |
9.09% |
In addition to these, Wycliffe graduated nine PhD students in May 2021.
- 3 are teaching (Niagara University; Wycliffe College; Trinity College, Queensland)
- 2 are in ordained ministry (Ontario; Tennessee)
- 1 is writing a book
- 2 work in IT
- 3 are in transition or seeking employment
(Two are reported in two different categories.)
Contact
For further details, please contact the following personnel:
Justin Stratis, Academic Dean
Jeffrey Hocking, Registrar
Re-accreditation 2020-2021
Wycliffe College engaged in a Self-Study in 2020-2021 which led to its re-accreditation until Fall 2031. This exercise is required every ten years by our accrediting agency, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). The process is an opportunity for us to examine our mission as a theological school involving an assessment of our performance in a variety of areas or standards.
The Steering Committee for the Self-Study consisted of:
Bob Hamilton (Chair), Bishop Stephen Andrews, Rob Henderson, Alan Hayes (report writer), Thomas Power (coordinator), and the sub-committee anchors. These sub-committees were:
- Governance (Chair: Patricia Paddey, Director of Communications)
- Academics (Chair: +Stephen Andrews, Principal)
- Student Services (Chair: Jeff Hocking, Assistant Registrar).
The sub-committees consisted of a broad representation drawn from faculty, staff, students, board of trustees, and alumni/ae. The work of each committee member involved reviewing the ATS standards pertinent to the sub-committee, gathering and interpreting data, assessing the extent to which the school is accomplishing its purposes or goals in relation to the standards, making recommendations where non-compliance is evident, and assisting in the drafting of a report. The entire process took over a year. The process included a site-visit by a team of ATS assessors (which happened virtually, owing to pandemic restrictions).
