Customize Your Degree
We offer a variety of certificates that can be earned alongside our degree programs. Immerse yourself in critical social issues we face as a church and society, and focus your studies on your passions.

Our unique programs give students the opportunity for in-depth theological exploration of critical issues that we face as a church and society. Take a class with Project TURN, in which incarcerated men and women study alongside Duke Divinity students; examine connections between food, faith, and the environment with Professor Norman Wirzba; or explore connections between Christianity and medicine with faculty who are practicing physicians and theologians.

Divinity School Certificates

Certificate in Anglican Studies
The Certificate in Anglican Studies can be earned within the M.Div., Th.M, and M.T.S. programs and is designed to serve the academic and formational requirements of students preparing for Anglican/Episcopal ministry, lay and especially ordained.
Certificate in Baptist Studies
The Certificate in Baptist Studies is designed to serve the academic and formational requirements of M.Div. students, residential and hybrid, who are preparing for ministry—ordained and lay—in the Baptist tradition.
Certificate in Black Church Studies
The Certificate in Black Church Studies can be earned within the M.Div., M.T.S., Th.M., and M.A. degrees and aims to help strengthen the body of Christ through critical reflection, dialogue, and practice at the intersection of race, faith, and Christian witness in the tradition of Black churches. 
Certificate in Catholic Studies
The Certificate in Catholic Studies, open to Residential M.Div. and M.T.S. students, engages students in the study of the global Catholic experience, practices, and teachings over the centuries and in the present.
Certificate in Chaplaincy
The Certificate in Chaplaincy is available to students in the residential M.Div., Th.M., M.T.S. programs and is designed to prepare them for vocational chaplaincy in a variety of contexts, including health care, hospice, prison, higher education, military, and more.
Certificate in Christian Education
The Certificate in Christian Education, available to M.A. in Christian Practice and M.Div. students, benefits persons seeking to practice as church educators, teachers, college chaplains, youth workers, community organizers, or health care workers.
Certificate in Faith, Food, and Environmental Justice
The Certificate in Faith, Food, and Environmental Justice is for students in the residential M.Div. and M.T.S. degrees seeking training and preparation for engaging faithfully in environmental justice work, agricultural production, healthy food access and food systems, creation care ministries, land use issues, policy advocacy, and environmental management.
Certificate in Faith-based Organizing, Advocacy, and Social Transformation
The Certificate in Faith-based Organizing, Advocacy, and Social Transformation is for students in the M.Div. (residential and hybrid), M.T.S., or M.A. programs seeking to engage in campaigning and advocacy work, community organizing, community development, and related forms of social, political, and economic witness from a Christian basis.
Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry
The Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry can be earned alongside the M.Div. (residential and hybrid), M.T.S., Th.D., and M.A. and enables students to make the study of gender, sexuality, theology, and ministry a core component of their theological education. It fosters a collaborative environment for teaching, research, service learning, and dialogue.
Certificate in Latinx Studies
The Certificate in Latinx Studies is available to students in the residential M.Div. and M.T.S. degrees and is designed to provide theological and ministerial formation to students preparing for ministry with Hispanic/Latinx churches and communities in the U.S.
Certificate in Methodist/Wesleyan Studies
The Certificate in Methodist/Wesleyan Studies is for pan-Methodist/Wesleyan students in the M.Div., M.T.S., and M.A. programs who wish to engage in robust and intentional training in Wesleyan theology and spiritual practice in preparation for leadership positions in Methodist and Wesleyan churches.
Certificate in Missional Innovation
The Certificate in Missional Innovation can be earned within the M.Div. (hybrid and residential) and M.A. in Christian Practice degrees and is intended to provide training in contextual evangelism and church planting for students interested in innovative forms of ministry.
Certificate in Preaching
The Certificate in Preaching is available to M.Div. students and encourages deep engagement with both the theory and practice of preaching. The goal is to prepare students to be more faithful and effective preachers, as well as to equip students for ongoing critical reflection and growth in their preaching ministry.
Certificate in Prison Studies
The Certificate in Prison Studies is available in the residential M.Div., M.T.S, and Th.D programs and provides students with the opportunity to engage specifically with people in prison and the system that imprisons them in the context of theological education and formation for ministry.
Certificate in Reflective and Faithful Teaching
The Certificate in Reflective and Faithful Teaching (CRAFT) fosters the ongoing development of Th.D. students as theological educators.
Certificate in Theology and the Arts
The Certificate in Theology and the Arts offers M.Div., M.T.S., Th.M., and M.A. students firm grounding in the key theological loci and practices relevant to a lifetime’s engagement with the arts in the church, the university, and beyond.
Certificate in Theology, Medicine, and Culture
The Certificate in Theology, Medicine, and Culture combines scholarship and coursework with practical experience and community engagement to prepare students in the M.Div. , M.T.S., Th.M., and M.A. programs for robust theological and practical engagement with contemporary practices of medicine, community, and public health.
Certificate in Worship
The Certificate in Worship prepares Duke Divinity students in the M.Div., M.T.S., and M.A. programs to engage in practical formation and theoretical reflection on the worship of God in Christian congregations.

Other Certificates

Duke University offers a number of graduate and continuing education certificates that can be earned as part of master’s and doctoral degrees.
Certificate in Nonprofit Management
This certificate, administered by Duke University Continuing Studies and available to students in the M.Div. (residential or hybrid), M.T.S., and M.A. in Christian Practice programs, supports students’ vocational formation and leadership development by emphasizing theologically-grounded, deployable skills and practices to lead faithfully and wisely in a variety of contexts.
Other Duke University Certificates
Outside of the Divinity School, Duke University offers a number of graduate certificates that can be earned as part of master’s and doctoral degrees.
A student reads a book while wearing a Duke Divinity logo sweatshirt

Standalone Certificates & Online Certificates

Unique Educational Programs

We also offer the standalone Certificate in Theology and Health Care — a one-year course of study designed to equip Christian health care practitioners with the training to engage their work with theological clarity and spiritual joy — and online certificates and certifications designed for Divinity alumni and other practitioners seeking to expand and refresh their knowledge and skills.