Welcome to the admissions portion of our website. It is designed for anyone considering becoming a student at St Vladimir's Seminary. If this describes you, we hope that you will find the information here helpful in answering your questions.

We will gladly mail you a packet of information upon request (please note that all of the forms in this packet can be downloaded from our website). We will also be happy to schedule a time for you to visit our campus.

While we welcome visitors to our campus on an individual basis, we encourage prospective students to visit during one of the two Open House events held each year. Open House provides prospective students all the benefits of a visit, which includes the chance to worship in the Three Hierarchs Chapel, attend classes, meet students and faculty, take meals in the refectory, and to spend a few nights in our dormitories. Open House participants also receive a guided tour of the campus and its resources, and attend an information session on what to expect as a student. The next Open House is scheduled for November 6-8, 2008. For more information on visiting the seminary please see "Visits and Interviews ."

To speak with the director of recruitment about visiting, obtaining a packet of information, or simply to ask a question, call Dn Philip Mathew at (914) 961-8313, ext. 328, or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Overview

St Vladimir's Seminary is a graduate school of Orthodox theology offering the degrees of Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Master of Theology. Men and women studying at the seminary, even when not preparing for Orthodox Church service, must commit themselves in the following areas while enrolled as a student:

Academic Study: Men and women come to St Vladimir's Seminary to receive a graduate education in Orthodox Christianity. All students, whatever their plans and intentions, must be fully committed to a rigorous and demanding program of academic and scholarly studies while at the seminary.

Liturgical Worship: All students at St Vladimir's Seminary are expected to participate regularly in liturgical worship. Vespers and Matins are served daily at the seminary, with Vigils and Divine Liturgies on Sundays and feast days, and with Compline during the Lenten seasons.  Students are responsible for serving, reading, and singing. Liturgical worship, with appropriate participation in the sacraments of confession and communion, are essential to theological study as understood and practiced at the seminary.

Spiritual Growth: Seminarians are expected to engage in a process of spiritual growth as an essential component of their theological education. Every resident student is expected to be under the spiritual guidance of one of the seminary clergy.  Any exception to this rule is subject to the approval of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

Community Service: All students are required to fulfill a community assignment. This work is an essential part of theological education at the seminary. It also counts as part of a student's tuition payment. Community service helps to keep down the operating costs of the seminary, and in turn ensures that students’ tuition costs are much lower than most graduate theological schools.  Community service also tests the students’ commitment to the Christian life.

Most students begin their studies in the fall semester. Although the seminary has a rolling admissions policy, it is important for applicants to return their application material early, preferably in December or January for the following fall semester. Please see How to Apply for instructions and specific information.

"St Vladimir's Seminary is not a place for the proud and cowardly.  It is a place for the humble and courageous who are blessed to come to know by experience that theology is not only studied, it is suffered; that it is not only written in ink, but is recorded in blood.  I pray that you  may be among those called to a theological education and formation at St. Vladimir's Seminary.  May God guide your way."


Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko
Dean, Emeritus
Retired Professor of Dogmatic Theology
Practical Theology, and Spiritualty