Maitripa College Mission Statement

May Compassion and Wisdom Serve the World

Maitripa College is a Buddhist institution rooted in the Nalanda tradition of classical India and Tibet, offering master’s degrees and lifelong learning programs in both physical and digital formats. Students integrate the three pillars of our education—scholarship, meditation, and service—as formation, and learn to apply this in service to their communities and the world, with compassion and joy.

State Authorization

Founded in 2005 and affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), Maitripa College began offering classes in 2006 and received degree-granting authority from Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission in 2008. Maitripa currently offers a Master of Arts in Applied Buddhism degree and a Master of Divinity degree, integrating contemplative practice with academic inquiry to prepare graduates for service to their communities with wisdom and compassion. Our faculty include distinguished scholars, experienced meditation teachers, and dedicated practitioners committed to the authentic transmission of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition; state authorization represents the first step towards institutional accreditation, a goal Maitripa is now pursuing as it works to extend the tradition of serious scholarship and practical application that has long defined Buddhist studies in America.

This school is a non-profit corporation and is authorized by the State of Oregon to offer and confer the academic degrees and certificates described herein, following a determination that state academic standards will be satisfied under OAR 583-030. Inquiries concerning the standards or school compliance may be directed to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Office of Degree Authorization, 3225 25th Street SE, Salem, OR 97302.