Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

If you are interested in studying pastoral counseling and specialized ministries, you may want to check out the program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The following information will help you decide if it is a good fit for you.

SBTS is located in Louisville, Kentucky and has a total student population of 4,337. Of the 83 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2021, 2 of them were pastoral counseling and specialized ministries majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries section at the bottom of this page.

SBTS Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling
• Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling
• Doctorate Degree in Pastoral Counseling

SBTS Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the pastoral counseling progam at SBTS compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Although rankings can help you see some information about a school, it's not a good idea to depend on them alone. Be sure to check out other things about the school before making your decision to attend.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The pastoral counseling major at SBTS is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Most Popular Pastoral Specialized Ministries Doctor’s Degree Schools	1
	4
	7
Most Popular Pastoral Specialized Ministries Undergraduate Certificate Schools	8
Most Focused Pastoral Specialized Ministries Undergraduate Certificate Schools	8
Most Focused Pastoral Specialized Ministries Doctor’s Degree Schools	9
Most Popular Pastoral Specialized Ministries Schools	10
	11
Most Popular Pastoral Specialized Ministries Master’s Degree Schools	14
	16
Most Focused Pastoral Specialized Ministries Master’s Degree Schools	44
Most Focused Pastoral Specialized Ministries Schools	53
Most Popular Pastoral Specialized Ministries Bachelor’s Degree Schools	90
Most Focused Pastoral Specialized Ministries Bachelor’s Degree Schools	106

In 2021, 26 students received their master’s degree in pastoral counseling from SBTS. This makes it the #14 most popular school for pastoral counseling master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 40 students who received their doctoral degrees in pastoral counseling, making the school the #1 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Pastoral Counseling Student Demographics at SBTS

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the pastoral counseling majors at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

SBTS Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Bachelor’s Program

The pastoral counseling program at SBTS awarded 2 bachelor's degrees in 2020-2021. About 50% of these degrees went to men with the other 50% going to women.

About 100% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in pastoral counseling at SBTS are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a bachelor's in pastoral counseling.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	2
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

SBTS Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Master’s Program

Of the 26 students who earned a master's degree in Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries from SBTS in 2020-2021, 27% were men and 73% were women.

Of the students who received a pastoral counseling master's degree from SBTS, 69% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master's in pastoral counseling.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	18
International Students	5
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

SBTS also has a doctoral program available in pastoral counseling. In 2021, 40 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Sacred Music
• Religious Education
• Missionary Studies
• Theological & Ministerial Studies

Careers That Pastoral Counseling Grads May Go Into

A degree in pastoral counseling can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for KY, the home state for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Occupation	Jobs in KY	Average Salary in KY
Clergy	500	$48,910
Philosophy and Religion Professors	260	$70,730
Religious Activities and Education Directors	50	$62,190

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass. under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.