Duke Divinity School officially offers two dual-degree programs:
- Master of Divinity/Master of Social Work (M.Div./M.S.W.) with the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work
- Master of Theological Studies/Juris Doctor (M.T.S./JD) with the Duke School of Law.
Students may pursue other dual-degree possibilities by communicating with the associate dean for academic formation and programs. Pursuing a dual-degree outside of the two official programs requires acceptance of admission and permission from both schools.
Dual Master of Divinity/Master of Social Work degree:
The M.Div./M.S.W. program can be completed in four continuous years of full-time study (instead of five years) and leads to a Master of Divinity degree conferred by Duke University and Master of Social Work degree conferred by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A customized course of study allows students to start the program at either school, with slightly different paradigms governing the course of study in each case. The core curriculum of each degree must be completed at each institution. Students will be expected to be full-time during this program. Students may not transfer credits from other seminaries toward the Master of Divinity portion of this program. Students who are enrolled in either program may apply to the dual degree program after they have started at either school. However, interested students should be aware that the annual application deadline for the M.S.W. at UNC is January 1.
M.Div. students interested in pursuing the M.Div./M.S.W. joint degree after matriculating into the M.Div. program must make application, receive acceptance, and declare their participation in the M.Div./M.S.W. dual degree program by April 1 of their first year.
The program is designed to prepare individuals for positions of leadership and service in the social agencies of the church and the community at large. The program equips graduates for various forms of ministry and service in which clinical and administrative skills in social work and theology are critical. Two integrative seminars are taken in the first and final year of study. These seminars enable the student to integrate theological, biblical, theoretical, ethical, pastoral, social justice, empirical, and practical dimensions of social work.
Dual Master of Theological Studies/Juris Doctor degree:
The Divinity School and the Law School have established a combined four-year program in law and theological studies. Acceptance into this program requires applying separately for admission to each school. The students in the M.T.S./JD program may enroll the first year in either the Divinity School or the Law School. If the student begins in the former, the first-year curriculum is the same as that of other Divinity School students; if the student begins in the latter, the first-year curriculum is the same as that of other law students. The student’s second year consists of the full first-year program of the other school. In the third and fourth years of the program, the student takes courses in both schools. Approximately two-thirds of these courses are taken in the Law School.