For those of you who are aspiring NT PhDs, I want to draw your attention to a unique avenue of study that you might not otherwise 
become aware of.
Thorsten Moritz has a program set up for PhD study in New Testament or Hermeneutics through London School of Theology.
What’s unique about the program is that Moritz is based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN area and so relocation to the U.K. is not a part of the deal.
From my interactions with Moritz over the past several years, I imagine that people who enjoy the sort of biblical-theological engagement with scripture that I do on my blog would also enjoy studying under his tutelage.
So put this on your list of options to consider when you’re thinking about where you might go next.
Do they give you money? Money is important.
Money is SO overrated…
You can study part-time for a PhD at Highland Theological College from anywhere in the world. Lots of US students. No residence requirements if part-time. Supervision via Skype and email etc. One PG conference in Scotland each year, not compulsory but encouraged. Can highly recommend the OT guys but others are good too.
As a British PhD adviser my recommendations for people looking into British PhDs is (1) Do I get face-to-face meetings with my adviser multiple times a year? (2) Will I be part of a learning community where I live stateside, including research seminars? (3) Will I have opportunities to work stateside as an adjunct professor based on the reputation of the program I’m enrolled in? (4) How experienced are the advisers in terms of successful completions of their past research students? (5) How experienced is the school as a whole in terms of successful supervisions?
I have seen schools use this as a cash cow (I am not suggesting that HTC is in that category). But it’s worth asking what one actually gets for the money.
The kind of people who feel that way presumably wouldn’t mind sharing. Do I hear a volunteer?
He heh… People who feel that way oft times don’t have any, either!
Sorry, not a good idea in my book. No relocation, no (geophysical) conversation, no transformation.
Also, why doesn’t Moritz post his bio? He says only by request. Odd.
Just found this conversation. Thanks Dan. Nice surprise!
Christopher: Good idea about the bio. I didn’t think it was odd, but if it is, I’ll put it up asap. Thanks!
You say: ‘No (geophysical) conversation, no transformation’ (?) Can you share your basis for your confident verdict? Do you know my current students? And are you expecting that all PhD students should move abroad? Just curious.
Dan: Yes, there are currently nine PhD students in this program in the US, all happy to be contacted. Some close to finishing, some not. Also students who completed theirs with me (though they work in Europe).
Thorsten, Have any of your students had success securing any funding for their studies?
Yes, some have Stafford loans, some have private education loans (like Wells Fargo’s Education Connect). Five out of nine work as Research Fellows and adjunct professors in theological schools around the Twin Cities. My last research fellow worked 15 hours a week for me and covered 75% of the PhD fees that way. Fortunately, with the shorter duration of 3-4 years, the British PhD still ends up cheaper in the mid and long term than even a fully funded US PhD (factoring in the extra two years of employment income after completion).
I’m exploring the option of a foundation specifically to lessen the need for loans. Meanwhile, the US government is redoing the educational loans landscape. Not sure yet what that means.
Since I know him, I’m not as worried about the absence of the bio, though I agree it would make more sense to have a link.
In terms of the program, while I share some of your concerns I’d want to talk with folks who had done it to see how much contact they had with him and other students and in what formats. It looks like many of the students are in the area, at least at times.
1) What about funding after the first year? Does LST give any scholarships at all to PhD students who have successfully gone through their ‘probationary’ period?
2) Do U.S. students have to move to Minnesota with Moritz or can they maintain communication and supervision at a distance? Related, do U.S. students have to be supervised by Moritz or can they be supervised by others at LST like, for example, Steve Walton?
3) What are the statistics of graduates landing full-time jobs with an LST PhD? Is it a reputable degree? Granted the three year degree would be shorter than a U.S. PhD. But, if one cannot land a decent job with an LST degree, then the U.S. option would certainly be preferred even though it is longer.
4) Is the degree worth $40,000 (this question can be answered from a number of perspectives)?
I don’t know about 1, it doesn’t look like it.
You should direct question 2 to T. Moritz, but it looks like he’s the only one who is doing this in the US. I’m not sure about relocation.
Don’t know about point 3.
Point 4: is any doctoral degree worth it? If you’re looking at a UK style option, then this seems like a good one. I typically advise students to give higher weight to any program which might grant them a full stipend.
Hi Brice – Sorry this is long:
(1) No funding from LST. However, with a dissertation-only format of three years it still ends of cheaper in the mid to long term than even a fully funded US program. (I’m assuming here that the much shorter duration means a couple of years of extra income and pension provision that students at US institutions will not have.) Also, for some it helps that their spouses (or they themselves) can keep their jobs and don’t have to uproot. It also means opportunities for adjunct teaching in US colleges during the PhD phase.
(2) No need to move closer to me. While most of my students are in Minnesota, three are not (Arkansas, Arizona, North Dakota). I also have a couple more out-of-state applications at the moment. The advantage of the MN-based students in a word is ‘community’. Face to face time with each other in research seminars (the others join by Skype). Helping each other with reading German texts. That kind of thing. If US students want to be supervised by Steve ro toher in London, they typically need to move there. In the US it’s just me. (Joel Green at Fuller used to do it too, but with his added responsibility for the Fuller PhD program he had to phase this out.) By the way, those away from the Twin Cities can have books shipped to them from the Twin Cities Theological Consortium libraries by mail (useful if they don’t have excellent facilities where they live). This service costs $500 a year and is optional
(3) Ask any member of the ‘British New Testament Conference’ or SNTS/SOTS about LST and I think you will like what you hear. As for stats.: I think LST has them, but I don’t. What I can say is that my graduates are all in theological work and that two thirds of my current PhD students are working as adjuncts in colleges and seminaries in the Twin Cities. You could also have a look at some American schools who prefer professors with British PhDs (such as the NT department at Trinity in Deerfield, IL). You could also look at the list of resident scholars at Tyndale House in Cambridge (similar ethos to LST and plenty of connections between the two) and you will find plenty of American PhD students there who were recommended to get their PhD in Britain. I work at Bethel Seminary in MN, and we hired three British PhD in the last five years alone. One of my PhD ABDs recently was offered a job over competition from Duke and elsewhere. I don’t find that surprising and highlight it only because you ask for comparisons.
(4) Not sure what you mean. If you mean ‘value for money’ (and at the risk of generalizing), the ratio is significantly better than in the US (there is a reason why funding in the US is a necessity). If you compare it to Germany, though, you can get your PhD there essentially for free. But obviously your German language skills need to be flawless for that, you need to relocate, and it will take you as long as in the US. So it always depends what we compare with. Bottom line, you can get a top notch PhD in any of these countries and others too, but it would be tough, in my bview, to find a more efficient way of doing it than with LST by distance. If you mean, how can a degree be any good if it’s so much cheaper than in the US, part of the answer is that Europe mostly believes in education not being for profit/about competition. This opens the door to government subsidies that are significantly higher than in the US. The picture is more complex than that, but these are two of the major reasons. In Germany, as mentioned, you pay next to nothing for education. Is that degree too cheap? Probably not
Forgot to say: The fact that there is no funding from the institution is the norm in Europe. It’s not an LST thing. It has to do with funding coming indirectly in the form of major government subsidies to universities (which is why European students get a 50% discount compared to non-EU students).
Thank you for the reply, Dr. Kirk. LST looks like a really good option for a lot of reasons. But, it is vexing that there is no funding for this program. Steve Walton mentioned to me that there is zero funding for first year students, and it looks like there is no available funding even after the first year. That certainly puts a financial burden on students, especially if they come to the program with school-loan debt. Nevertheless, the program does sound really solid and well rounded.