a bachelor's degree in theological & ministerial studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #124 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Theological & Ministerial Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 444 bachelor's degrees in theological & ministerial studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Theological & Ministerial Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of theological & ministerial studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality theology program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on theological & ministerial studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other theological & ministerial studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt theological & ministerial studies students go into to obtain their bachelor'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 theological & ministerial studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for theological & ministerial studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Theological & Ministerial Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Theological & Ministerial Studies in the Great Lakes Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in theological & ministerial studies.
Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Theology
University of Notre Dame is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in theological & ministerial studies. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the theological & ministerial studies program at University of Notre Dame get $10,236 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Moody Bible Institute is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in theological & ministerial studies. Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the theology program state that they receive average early career income of $33,488.
Franciscan University of Steubenville is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in theological & ministerial studies. Franciscan U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Steubenville.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the theology program earn about $29,656 in their early career salary.
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).
Your choice of theological & ministerial studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality theology program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
