What is St. Stephen's College?

St. Stephen's College is an affiliated degree-granting graduate college of the University of Alberta. We offer graduate programs that educate the whole person (body, mind, and spirit) and equip ministers and caregiving professionals with the intellectual, applied, and spiritual capacity needed for service in the public sphere.

St. Stephen's mission is "to be a multi-faith community that offers sacred spaces for learning and transformation." This mission has evolved over the College's 110+ years. Initially St. Stephen's was a training centre for Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church ministers. From the 1970s onwards, we expanded from a strict denominational focus to work on a broadly ecumenical and interfaith basis. Today St. Stephen's is a multi-faith community that educates the whole person for a variety of professional caregiving and ministry contexts.

All St. Stephen's degree and certificate programs are openly accessible to people from any faith tradition, or no faith tradition.

As an educational partner of the University of Alberta, St. Stephen's College grants divinity degrees in spiritually-informed theology, psychotherapy, and art therapy. The affiliation of St. Stephen's with the University of Alberta dates to the founding of the University in 1908. As an affiliated College, St. Stephen's participates in some UAlberta degree programs, and offers undergraduate and graduate courses for the University. As an independent college, St. Stephen's offers applied graduate training in Multifaith Theology, Psychotherapy, Art Therapy, and Spiritual Care. Our status as an independent, degree-granting College means that degrees conferred by St. Stephen's College are not University of Alberta degrees.

For more than a century, St. Stephen's College has been known for its creative and non-traditional style of learning that integrates spirituality, the arts, and theology. St. Stephen's is committed to learning that both informs and transforms students to go out into the public sphere and shape the society in which we live.

An Act to Incorporate St. Stephen's College (April 27, 1927; amended 1968) authorizes St. Stephen's College to confer degrees in theology, including masters level divinity programs in pastoral psychology and counseling. These degrees include: Doctor of Ministry, Master of Psychotherapy and Spirituality, and Master of Theological Studies. St. Stephen's College is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). Our Art Therapy programs meet the Educational Standards of the Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA). In partnership with the Alberta Consortium for Supervised Psychospiritual Education, St. Stephen’s offers Clinical Psychospiritual Education that is accredited by the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care / Association canadienne de soins spirituels (CASC/ACSS).