LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

2024-2025 CATALOG

The Academic Catalog is the official listing of courses, programs of study, academic policies and degree requirements for Loyola University Chicago. It is published every year in advance of the next academic year.

Counseling for Ministry (MA)

The 36-credit hour Master of Arts in Counseling For Ministry (MACM) degree prepares students to become competent and effective pastoral caregivers in their present and future ministries. Our contemporary social and cultural contexts reveal strong needs for ministry-based caregiving with competency from within religious traditions and their communities. The long and rich history of counseling within ministry gives witness to that commitment called "ministry of care", or in Jesuit terms, cura personalis.

The MACM is suited especially to international students and others who do not require the 60 credit hour MA in Pastoral Counseling that is designed to meet the requirements for Illinois licensure as a clinical counselor. While MACM graduates are prepared to integrate some foundational practices of counseling, this degree does not prepare students for state licensure as professional counselors. If you are interested in acquiring a licensed professional counseling credential or a career as a licensed professional counselor in a clinical mental health setting, look to the MA in Pastoral Counseling.

The MACM mirrors the competency requirements of the Pastoral Counseling program but without the additional licensure requirements, allowing students to serve the therapeutic needs of faith communities in the USA and around the world.

The Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University Chicago (IPS), is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools. The Board of Commissioners of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) granted full accreditation to IPS on June 10, 2019.

The Association of Theological Schools
10 Summit Park Drive
Pittsburgh PA 15275-1110
Telephone: 412-788-6505
 
The following IPS degree programs are approved by the Commission on Accrediting: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Christian Spirituality (Professional MA), Master of Arts in Counseling for Ministry (Professional MA), Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling (Professional MA), and the Master of Arts in Social Justice (Professional MA) were also approved, as were our comprehensive online (distance education) programs.