MASTER OF DIVINITY DEGREE PROGRAM

A contemplative MDiv preparing you for spiritual care in healthcare, hospice, and community settings

Serve with Compassion: An Integrated Pathway to Buddhist Chaplaincy

Maitripa College’s low-residency Master of Divinity degree integrates Tibetan Buddhist scholarship, meditation training, and professional formation to prepare you for clinical chaplaincy and spiritual care roles — so you can offer compassionate service to others in life’s most challenging moments and nourish the spiritual dimensions of life.

MDiv at a Glance

 

  • Low-residency, cohort-based
  • Credits: 72
  • Length: 4 years, part time
  • Academic Year: three terms, September – July
  • Learning format: weekly live + asynchronous
  • Residencies: Two a year (October + May), 3-5 days each, in Portland, Oregon
  • Fall 2027 application deadline: June 15, 2027

  • Estimated Total Cost: $36,480 (+ CPE costs) — about $760/month over 4 years; travel/lodging separate

What You’ll Learn

Three integrated pillars: Scholarship, Meditation, and Service

  • Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, history, and ethics

  • Theories and praxis of chaplaincy, pastoral care, and spiritually integrated care

  • Graduate-level research and critical, applied thinking

  • Pastoral, public, and scholarly communication

  • Contemplative methods for cultivating wisdom and compassion in oneself and others

  • Reflective practice & embodied insight

  • Compassionate, ethical service grounded in spiritual formation
  • Spiritual care & leadership skills for diverse settings

Curriculum Snapshot

  • The Pastoral Buddha: scriptures on compassionate care

  • Culturally and spiritually responsive care + collaboration

  • Companioning grief and end-of-life care

  • Becoming an Action Research practitioner

  • Meditation classes: Concentration, Compassion, Insight into emptiness

  • Philosophy classes: A path out of suffering; Wisdom and compassion; Nature of mind and reality

  • Developing the Arts and Competencies of Spiritual Care

  • Buddhist Ethics: Equanimity, Equality, and Exchange of Self and Other

  • History: Buddhist Thought and Social Contexts

  • Spiritual Formation Group

Career Paths

  • Healthcare chaplaincy

  • Hospice and end-of-life chaplaincy
  • Community-based spiritual care
  • Chaplaincy/Spiritual Care in complex institutions, interdisciplinary settings, and diverse sectors where social, emotional, and spiritual needs exist to be met

  • Ministry and spiritual leadership in Buddhist, interfaith, or secular organizations
  • Integrating spirituality into therapeutic and allied professional roles

Program Features

Flexible Low-Residency Format
Live/recorded/async + Portland intensives

Cohort-Based & Faculty Mentorship
Spiritual Formation Group, Assigned faculty advisor

Affordable Tuition
Est. $36,480 tuition + fees; payment plans available

Lineage-grounded, Professionally Aligned Training
Tibetan Buddhist foundations + professional spiritual care training

Transformative In-Person Retreats
2 required intensives/year • 4–5 days • Portland, OR

Next Steps