Fully Online MAT Degree Program
In Fall 2017, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary launched a fully online MAT degree program. These classes will consist of the same in-house courses and utilize many of our in-house faculty in order to deliver a fully online Master of Arts in Theology degree program. In keeping with our mission statement, “…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20), Byzantine Online seeks to produce exceptional academic leaders in Eastern Christian theology, scripture and dogma. Through Byzantine Online, one has the chance to join with a Catholic community who by God’s grace will form some of the future leaders for the Church.
Applicants can finish the program in five semesters full-time, or take up to six years to complete the program part-time. This 37 credit degree program offers flexibility to those who are not able to physically be in Pittsburgh, but are drawn to academic learning about the Eastern Christian Church. These courses mirror our in-house program, offering semester-long classes that include regular online interaction as well as reading, writing and other assignments. The courses are delivered asynchronously, meaning students are not required to be online at the same time in any given week (although online office hours do occur at regularly scheduled times throughout the week). Online discussions and projects as well as course reading and writing demands between 8-12 hours per course each week.
The Master of Arts in Theology (MAT) can be completed entirely online, or through a combination of online and residential study.
For application information, visit https://www.byzantinecs.org/mat-admissions- process/.
Credit Earning Courses Through Byzantine Online
As part of our mission to teach and nurture leaders for the Lord’s work, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary will be offering credit courses through their distance-learning program, Byzantine Online, starting in January 2015. These courses will be offered over three semesters—Spring, Summer and Fall—and consist of 14 weeks of video lectures with readings, course discussions and interaction with instructors. Byzantine Online’s courses mirror the introductory residential courses that one would find at the Seminary but are offered asynchronously, meaning that students are not required to be online at the same time. While there are some aspects that can by time-dependent, such as online chat sessions or web-conferencing, Byzantine Online is both flexible and responsive to demanding schedules that make brick-and-mortar learning difficult. As such, a high level of participation, reading and writing is required.
Byzantine Online’s credit courses serve as one component of a hybrid degree program. That is, students have the opportunity to earn up to 27 credits, or the equivalent of one full year of residential credits online, before relocating to Pittsburgh to complete their programs. Or, if one is simply looking to begin graduate work in this area, these courses are intended as credit-earning introductory courses that orient and educate learners in the vast and rich Eastern Christian traditions.
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary is an accredited institution of the Commission on Accrediting of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and authorized to offer degrees by the Pennsylvania State Department of Education.