2025 Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #12 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 139 doctor's degrees in theology & religious vocations during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to theology & religious vocations students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other theology & religious vocations students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt theology & religious vocations students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized theology & religious vocations related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for theology & religious vocations students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Theology & Religious Vocations Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Theology & Religious Vocations Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Theology & Religious Vocations in the Southwest Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for theology & religious vocations students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Southwest Region Schools for a Doctorate in Theology & Religious Vocations

1

Abilene Christian University
Abilene, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations has to look into Abilene Christian University. Abilene Christian is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Abilene.More information about a doctorate in theology & religious vocations from Abilene Christian University

2

The King's University
Southlake, TX

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

The King's University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in theology & religious vocations. Located in the suburb of Southlake, TKU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population.More information about a doctorate in theology & religious vocations from The King’s University

Best Theology & Religious Vocations Colleges by State

Explore the best theology & religious vocations colleges for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	29	84
Arizona	28	6
Oklahoma	26	5
New Mexico	23	0

View All Rankings >

Theology & Religious Vocations Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Theological & Ministerial Studies	90
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries	29
Theology & Religious Vocations (Other)	14
Biblical Studies	3
Sacred Music	2
Religious Education	1

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Social Sciences	288
English Language & Literature	166
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies	121
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	97
Communication & Journalism	78
History	69
Philosophy & Religious Studies	52
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	24
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	21

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Daderot. More about our data sources and methodologies.