Martin Luther University College

• Faculty/Staff
• Programs
• Relation with the University
• General Admission Requirements
• General Graduate Students
• Note on Courses Contained in Graduate Calendar
• Advanced Standing and Credit Transfer
• Audit Policy
• Leave of Absence
• Termination of Registration
• Withdrawal from Luther
• Academic Standards
• Petitions and Appeals
• Course Offerings

• Diploma in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy
• Doctor of Philosophy in Human Relationships
• Master of Arts in Theology
• Master of Divinity
• Master of Divinity / Master of Social Work
• Master of Arts in Theology / Master of Divinity
• Diploma in Theology

As a federated college of Wilfrid Laurier University and a member of Laurier’s Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Martin Luther University College (Luther) cooperates with other faculties, departments, centres, etc. at Laurier. Graduate students of Luther are able to take courses in other departments, and Wilfrid Laurier University graduate students can take courses at Luther. In some circumstances, and in consultation with their program advisor, it is possible for Luther students to take courses outside of Wilfrid Laurier University.

As a federated college of Wilfrid Laurier University, Luther students have access to academic support, library, social, athletic, and cultural programs at Laurier.

Eligible candidates for programs offered by Martin Luther University College (Luther) are admitted upon the approval of the Principal-Dean. Students may apply for full-time or part-time studies.

Applications to the Master's and PhD programs are submitted online. An application fee is required. In addition, all prospective Master's and PhD graduate students are required to take the CASPer^TM Test in order to complete their application, which entails an additional fee. Applications are due on February 15 for fall term admission. Dates for CASPer^TM Test can be found on Luther's website.

Applications and requirements for the graduate diploma programs are available on Luther's website. Upon receipt of the application and supporting documents, Luther will contact the applicant concerning admission.

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required for graduate studies at Laurier. Applicants whose language of instruction during their previous postsecondary education was not in English must submit evidence of proficiency in English. Consult the Graduate Studies website for details on English language proficiency.

Admission to become a General Graduate Student (GGS) requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent. General Graduate students can take up to five graduate courses for credit but are not enrolled in a Luther degree program. Students who obtain credits in this category and subsequently decide to apply to a degree program must meet both the admission requirements and pay fees according to their category at that time. Course credit from GGS courses may be approved by the Academic Advisory Committee as credit toward the subsequent degree. 

As far as possible, each program attempts to provide a full range of core courses and electives. However, not every course listed in this Calendar is available in every session or every year.

Students are encouraged to consult the Student Advisor and/or the Luther website to inquire about course offerings each year.

Permission to receive advanced standing or transfer credits toward a graduate diploma, Master's or doctoral degree in Martin Luther University College (Luther) for courses taken previously at another institution on the same academic level as corresponding Luther courses may be granted at the discretion of the Academic Advisory Committee in consultation with the Luther Faculty as based on the following parameters.

A transfer credit is a course successfully completed at another institution that fulfills degree requirements in the student's current program. Normally, a course is only eligible as a transfer credit if it was not used to meet the requirements of a previously completed degree.

Advanced standing allows a student to substitute another similar course to fulfill degree requirements because the required course overlaps significantly with a course taken previously, allowing the student to advance their learning.

In considering transfer credits or advanced standing, the following policy will normally be used by the Academic Advisory Committee to credit students on the presumption that course hours and content are similar to those of like courses at Luther.

• If the student successfully completed the course 5 or fewer years before the start date of the student's program at Luther, advanced standing and/or transfer credit may be permitted within the parameters outlined by Laurier Policy.
• If the student successfully completed the course 6 to 19 years before the start date of the student's program at Luther, advanced standing may be granted within the parameters outlined by Laurier Policy.
• If the student successfully completed the course 20 years or more before the start date of the student's program at Luther, no advanced standing or transfer credit will be granted.

The following parameters also apply to requests for advanced standing or transfer credits.

• Students wishing to transfer from another institution and graduate from Luther must register as full-time students for at least one academic year or the equivalent thereof.
• Courses that have been credited toward a degree at Laurier or any other institution cannot normally be counted again toward a Luther diploma or degree.
• Students who hold a Master's degree in divinity or theology from a theological college accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada may petition the Academic Advisory Committee to receive advanced standing with the possibility of transfer credits for up to eight introductory courses in biblical studies, church history and systematic theology toward the graduate degree.
• Students who have completed graduate work directly related to their field of specialization may petition for advanced standing and/or transfer credits.
• Courses taken at the undergraduate level or as "audit" will not be considered for advanced standing or transfer credit.
• Students who are already enrolled in a Luther program may take courses at another institution for credit toward their degree or diploma provided that permission is obtained from Luther and the host institution prior to course registration. In such cases the appropriate forms are available from the student advisor. Courses taken by Luther students in another institution or program are the financial responsibility of the student. 

Enrolled graduate students normally are not permitted to audit graduate or undergraduate courses, except with the written permission of the instructor, who will consult the Principal-Dean. An audited course would be considered as part of normal course limits of the semester and degree program, and auditing fees and strictures as outlined in Laurier's Academic Calendar would apply.

Students may petition for a leave of absence (to a maximum of three consecutive terms) at a time when circumstances prevent them from working on either their course work or their thesis. Students are normally permitted only one leave of absence. Students receiving a leave of absence must re-register for the term immediately following the end of their leave of absence. Failure to re-register for that term will be considered an act of withdrawal from Martin Luther University College.

Terms spent on leave of absence are not included in the calculation of the time to completion.

A student whose work or attendance is considered to be unsatisfactory as determined by the Martin Luther University College (Luther) faculty may be required by the Principal-Dean to withdraw at any time from particular courses, from a particular program, or from Luther. Failure to maintain continuous registration will be considered an act of withdrawal from Luther.

For a variety of reasons, such as personal, financial, academic or vocational, a student may choose to withdraw from studies at Martin Luther University College (Luther). The student is expected to contact the Principal-Dean to discuss formal withdrawal. The failure of a student to remain registered (in the category of full-time, part-time, leave of absence or research fee student) will be considered an act of withdrawal. Should students desire later to resume studies after having withdrawn, they must reapply for admission to Luther.

Students who withdraw from Luther at any time retain the final grades in courses completed prior to the date of their withdrawal.

Students who withdraw after the final date for withdrawing without failure will have the courses in their program recorded as a failure.

Students holding scholarships, loans or other indebtedness related to their tenure as Luther students, must bear responsibility for meeting obligations in returning or repaying funds.

The academic year is divided into fall, winter and spring terms. Most fall and winter courses are 12-week courses, meeting once a week. In the spring term, most courses are offered in an intensive format. All courses involve 36 hours of instructional class time. The average workload for students is 2-3 hours of work outside of class per hour of class time.

A directed study course is an exception to courses normally taught via in-class or on-line delivery. A student is only allowed to take a directed study course by permission of the Academic Advisory Committee, which acts on a request submitted via the Request for a Directed Study form, available on the Luther website. Students may normally take no more than one half-credit directed study course in any one term. Students should be mindful that in particular instances faculty may not be available to supervise a directed study. Students may take no more than two (2) half-credit courses toward a degree through directed study.

In those instances where a student is proposing to enrol in a course offered at another institution, the program advisor should be consulted and the request submitted with the appropriate form. The Academic Advisory Committee must approve the course of study.

Normally, a full-time student will register in 3 or 4 courses per term (0.5 credits each) and a part-time student will register in 1 or 2 courses per term (0.5 credits each).

Master's students in a degree program at Luther who obtain a grade lower than B- in a course will be required to withdraw from their program unless they receive permission from the Academic Advisory Committee to repeat the course in question or its equivalent. Doctoral students at Luther who obtain a grade lower than B in a course will be required to withdraw from their program unless they receive permission from the Academic Advisory Committee to repeat the course in question or its equivalent. Where such permission is granted at either the Master's or doctoral level, students will be on probationary status until a satisfactory course credit is obtained. Students will not be allowed to repeat any course more than once or repeat more than three courses during their program of studies.

Martin Luther University College courses and extensions are subject to the same Completion of Coursework policy as Wilfrid Laurier University graduate students.

Graduation from Martin Luther University College does not automatically imply ordination, accreditation or professional certification.

Luther students may petition for exceptions from academic policies and/or decisions by submitting a written request to the Academic Advisory Committee. The Academic Advisory Committee at Luther functions as the first level of appeal for students enrolled in its programs. The second level of appeal is the Graduate Student Appeals Committee (GSAC) of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Upon submission of an appeal to the GSAC, the procedures governing the appeal will be as outlined in the Graduate Calendar.