CNA Staff, Jun 19, 2025 / 18:03 pm (CNA).
Christendom College announced that it will begin offering graduate degrees in education in what its president calls a “tremendous moment” for the college.
In the fall, the first cohort of doctoral students will begin at the tight-knit liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia. The doctoral programs — accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges — will focus on traditional liberal arts and the Catholic intellectual tradition.
The doctoral program is part of the college’s newly established Center for Educational Philosophy and Leadership, which will offer a 30-credit master’s degree in education designed for Catholic educators and administrators and a 54-credit doctorate of education. Organizers expect between 10-16 people in the inaugural cohort, according to a spokesman for Christendom.
Christendom President George Harne said he believes the graduate programs will enable the college of about 550 students to provide even deeper formation for leaders in the renewal of Catholic education.
“For decades, we have formed undergraduates to be leaders in the Church and society,” Harne said in a June 18 statement. “Now, with this next step, we can provide even deeper intellectual and spiritual formation for those leading the renewal of Catholic education in America.”
“By forming educators who deeply understand human anthropology, the philosophy of Catholic education, and authentic leadership, Christendom hopes to shape schools into beacons of truth, beauty, and goodness for generations to come,” the press release read.
This is all connected to the college’s overarching mission, according to Vice President for Academic Affairs Kevin Tracy.
“The mission of Christendom is to form men and women who will contribute to the Christian renovation of the temporal order,” Tracy said in a statement.
Through the mission-aligned doctoral program, Tracy said the college “can share with the wider world how the Catholic intellectual tradition addresses the challenges that educators face today.”
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A 54- credit Doctoral Degree? I would guess that this assumes at least a 36-credit Masters whose credits could logically form the foundation for the Doctorate.