Master of Divinity/Master of Business Administration, Joint Degree

Admission Requirements

Applicants for the M.Div./M.B.A. joint degree must have the following:

1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
2. GPA requirements stated for the M.B.A. program, which may require writing sample and admissions interview.
3. Letter of endorsement from a Christian congregation in which the applicant is actively involved.
4. Two personal letters of recommendation.

Transfer Credit

Students in the M.Div./M.B.A. joint degree may transfer a total of up to one-half the requirements for the joint degree. Of these transfer hours, no more than 12 graduate semester hours of coursework approved by the School of Business may be transferred for the M.B.A. portion of the joint degree. Students with a completed master’s degree in Christian or religious studies from another institution may transfer up to one-half of the completed degree. Students with a completed master’s degree in Christian ministry, religion, or theological studies from Wayland Baptist University may transfer up to the entire degree subject to the transfer limit of one-half the total joint degree requirements. To transfer credit, the student must have earned a grade of B for M.B.A. courses or C for M.Div. courses.

Academic Requirements of the Joint Degree

A student is placed on academic probation when his or her cumulative GPA falls below 2.5 or a grade of D or F is earned. It is recommended that courses with grades adversely affecting GPA be repeated as soon as possible. In cases where the course that is adversely affecting the GPA is available on a yearly basis, the student will be allowed to continue enrollment in the program with the stipulation that the course be repeated the next time the course is offered. A student who is on probation must raise the cumulative GPA to 2.5 or better within the next two terms or the student will be placed on academic suspension unless otherwise stipulated.

Academic suspension occurs when a student’s cumulative GPA remains below 2.5 beyond the period of academic probation or when a second grade of F is earned. In instances where two grades of F are earned in the same term academic suspension will automatically result. In the aforementioned situations, students in the M.Div./M.B.A. joint degree have one of two options:

• If the cumulative GPA is above 2.0, students may apply to transfer to the M.Div. degree and continue in that program. In this case, students could not submit a later request to return to the M.Div./M.B.A. joint degree.
• If the cumulative GPA is below 2.0 or students with a cumulative GPA above 2.0 wish to remain in the joint degree, the student will be required to sit out one term of 11 weeks or more.

No coursework which satisfies degree requirements may be more than ten years old at the time of graduation. Student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and no more than six (6) semester hours with the letter grade of C earned at Wayland in the M.B.A. courses will be accepted as credit.

Advanced Standing

Applicants to the M.Div./M.B.A. joint degree who have a bachelor’s degree in Christian or religious studies may be granted advanced standing for one or more courses from the M.Div. portion of the joint degree. Advanced standing is defined as a waiver to take advanced coursework in lieu of introductory coursework. For example a student with upper-level baccalaureate work in Old Testament may be allowed to take an Old Testament elective in lieu of Old Testament Foundations. Advanced coursework would be in the same field as the introductory course. Any request for transcript evaluation for advanced standing must be made in writing to the dean of the school.

M.Div./M.B.A. Joint Degree Requirements