Program overview
The MA in Liberal Arts Education is a 2-year program rooted in the Catholic intellectual and educational liberal arts tradition. Offering a set of core and elective courses tailored to specific needs, the MA in Liberal Arts Education prepares teachers and school leaders to awaken in their students a Catholic worldview, develop the tools needed to think broadly and creatively, and grow in the habits of excellence in mind and heart. Through this program, educators are informed, formed, and transformed in themselves so that they can, in turn, form and transform generations of young people to greet the challenges of the modern world with creativity and optimism.
Program Goals
The MA in Liberal Arts Education program seeks to:
- Educate and form teachers and school leaders in the distinctly Catholic liberal arts educational tradition that understands the human person as made in the image and likeness of God, made for relationship with God and others, and made for freedom.
- Develop in students the capacity to grasp the unity of knowledge and philosophical habit of mind to see the connections between the disciplines as a reflection of the Truth Who is One.
- Awaken in educators and school leaders a uniquely Catholic moral and imaginative worldview through the study of the liberal arts, especially theology, philosophy, history and the arts.
- Provide the content and tools necessary to enable educators to form students intellectually, morally, physically, and spiritually with “joy in the Truth.”
Inspire students to integrate their faith in their professional practice and daily life as Catholic educators.
Course Preview
Program Requirements
- 33 Credits (12 Core Credits plus 21 Elective Credits)
- One thesis or capstone project experience
Program Time Limit: 5 years
Application Process
- Complete the free online application for admission.
- Have an official transcript from the accredited institution where you completed your undergraduate degree sent to registrar@cdu.edu.
- Have someone who is familiar with your academic or professional work submit a letter of recommendation to registrar@cdu.edu.
- Submit a brief statement of purpose (250 words or less) to registrar@cdu.edu on why you are pursuing online graduate study in theology.
Students will be notified of acceptance via email shortly after all materials have been submitted and reviewed.
Program Costs
- Tuition: $1,485 x 12 courses = $17,820
- Technology fee: $165/course x 12 courses = $1,980
- Comprehensive Exam fee: $150
- Books: $100/course (estimate) x 12 courses = $1,200
- Total: $21,150
- Detailed cost of attendance budgets can be found here.
Transfer Credit
A maximum of 12 graduate credits earned within the last 5 years with a grade of 3.0 or higher may be transferred from another institution. The coursework must be applicable to required program courses. In cases in which transfer courses do not align with the core, they can be allowed to meet elective requirements if they align with the overall goals and desired outcomes of the program. Acceptance of transfer credit is at the discretion of Academic Leadership.
Graduate Application
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Course List
| Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
| LIB 501 | Christian Anthropology | 3 |
| EDU 510 | Foundations of Western Education | 3 |
| EDU 520 | Newman and the Liberal Arts Tradition | 3 |
| RELED 560 | Principles of Catholic Education | 3 |
Courses are 8 weeks long unless otherwise noted.
| Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
| ENG 501 | Catholic Literary Tradition | 3 |
| PHIL 508 | Philosophy for Theology | 3 |
| CHIST 514 | Church History I | 3 |
| CHIST 524 | Church History II | 3 |
| THEO 617 | Fr. Spitzer’s Evidence for God | 3 |
| THEO 560 | Foundations of Moral Theology | 3 |
| THEO 598 | The Holy Land: The Fifth Gospel | 3 |
| THEO 599 | Italy: The Crossroads of Christendom | 3 |
| CST 500 | Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching | 3 |
| EDU 550 | The Story of American Catholic Education | 3 |
| EDU 610 | Accommodation, Differentiation, and Exceptional Learners in the Liberal Arts Classroom | 3 |
| EDU 620 | Virtue in the Classroom | 3 |
| EDU 630 | Classical Pedagogy | 3 |
| EDU 640 | Trivium and the Catholic Imagination | 3 |
| EDU 650 | Quadrivium and Seeing the Whole | 3 |
| EDU 670 | Organizational Leadership for Catholic Schools | 3 |
| EDU 680 | Education for the Renewal of Christian Culture | 3 |
| CST 600 | Ethics and Catholic Social Teaching for Business | 3 |
Courses are 8 weeks long unless otherwise noted.
The typical course sequence for a student enrolled full-time in the program would be as follows:
Fall I
Anthropology of the Human Person
Principles of Catholic Education
Spring I
Foundations of Western Education
Newman and the Liberal Arts Tradition
Summer I
Elective 1
Elective 2
Fall II
Elective 3
Elective 4
Spring II
Elective 5
Elective 6
Summer II
Elective 7
Thesis or Practicum
THE CDU ADVANTAGE
In a 2022 survey of CDU graduate students, 100% reported that they had achieved their learning goals.
CDU Offers:
- Flexibility to study where and when you choose
- Authentic Catholic teaching
- Affordability
- A global Catholic community
- Knowledgeable and accessible faculty
- Engaging online courses with discussion forums
- Mobile app for study on the go
- Online library staffed by a theological librarian
- 24/7 technical support
The MA program is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), which is recognized as a national accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The university is certified as a degree-granting institution by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.
