The Master of Arts is a high-quality programme of professional development designed for students who want to update their leadership capacities, missional orientation and ability to relate to emerging postmodern cultures.

The flexible nature of this degree allows students to sample a range of topics within the theological and leadership sphere or to focus on a particular area of study. Concentrations in a number of disciplines are available, for example, Bible, Theology, Christian Life and Ministry, Chaplaincy, Spirituality, Mission, Leadership, Governance and Strategy.

Course Information

Course: Master of Arts (MA)
Accrediting Body: Sydney College of Divinity
Australian Quality Framework Level: AQF 9
School: School of Bible, Theology and Ministry

Number of Units: 8 units/72 credit points OR 12 units/ 108 credit points depending on entry
Study Mode: Online (with facilitated learning opportunities)
Course Duration: 1 years full-time or up to 3 years part-time OR 1.5 years full-time or up to 4.5 years part-time depending on entry

Course Plan

Units:

2 core units
/ Spiritual Formation 4 (Personal Transformation)
/ Any Research unit OR Independent Guided Study

10 Elective units

Specialisations
/ Christian Life and Ministry
/ Christian Spirituality
/ Mission
/ Pastoral Theology
/ Biblical Studies
/ Theology
/ Leadership
/ Pastoral Counselling

Steps to Complete Tool

Schedules

Unit Descriptions

Course Details

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements:

Student may gain entry via two categories:

Students who have previously completed an AQF 8 level award in the discipline of Theology or Ministry may gain entry to a 8 unit Master of Arts program. Note a variety of ACOM's Graduate Certificate programs can satisfy this entry.
Students who have previous completed an AQF 7 undergraduate award in Theology or Ministry may gain entry to a 12 unit Master of Arts program.

English Proficiency:

Applicants whose entry qualifications were obtained in an institution where English is not the language of instruction normally require a minimum IELTS (or equivalent) score of 7.0 in all bands of the test.

Course Outcomes

Knowledge

Graduates will have:

an integrated understanding of an advanced body of knowledge in one or more theologically-related disciplines or areas of practice, including recent developments in the theological disciplines and/or their practice;
understanding research principles and methods applicable to these theological disciplines and their practice.

Skills

Graduates will have expert cognitive and technical skills in a theologically-related body of knowledge, so that they are able independently to:

analyse critically, reflect on and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories associated with a theologically-related body of knowledge;
research and apply established theories to a theologically-related body of knowledge or practice;
interpret and transmit knowledge, skills and ideas through coherent and sustained argument to specialist and non-specialist audiences in relation to a theologically-related body of knowledge.

Applications of Knowledge and Skills

Graduates will have the ability to:

apply knowledge and skills in a way that demonstrates autonomy, expert judgment, adaptability, and accountability as a practitioner and/or learner in relation to the inter-dependent building up of the church and good of the wider community;
plan and execute a research-based project, and/or piece of scholarship in an area of theology.

Find expanded academic outcomes and regulations in the SCD Handbook.

Exit Points

Credit

Placement

We want our students to be doers, not just hearers.

ACOM students studying units in the subdisciplines of Mission (M) or Pastoral Theology (P) will be required to undertake 30 hours of placement. Student vocational placement provides an opportunity to link academic work into practice through a process of instruction (online readings, facilitations, and other learning activities), action (localised ministry) and reflection (thinking about your practice to understand how to improve it).

Vocational placement will require students to identify and recruit a local supervisor in their environment (e.g. a church, work, school, chaplaincy, volunteer, or welfare organisation), and engage with them to help you reflect and integrate your learning into your place of practice.

If you are uncertain if your unit of interests will require placement, please check the schedules, or discuss with your SEM

Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation is foundational to who we are. For ACOM, the learning process is not simply intellectual - it is about spiritual transformation. We care about the individual you are becoming and here’s why: we know that healthy, sustainable and effective graduates will be well grounded spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially.

Each ACOM course gives students the opportunity to study our Spiritual Formation units either as core or electives. Refer to your course plan to discover how our formation units can be incorporated into your study, or read more about the Spiritual Formation process.

Fees

Students can pay their fees upfront or access the Australian Government’s Fee-HELP system.

Fee-Help is a Commonwealth loan scheme that assists eligible students to defer all or part of their higher education tuition fees. Students wishing to utilise Fee-HELP should apply during admission, or contact registrar@acom.edu.au. To read more about Fee-HELP and check your eligibility go to https://www.studyassist.gov.au/.

2024 Graduate Level Fees

Applicable to courses studied at the Australian Quality Framework level 8-9 (AQF8-9 Graduate Level).

2024	Audit for Future Credit (Upfront Only)	Single Unit (9 Credit Points)	Double Unit (18 Credit Points)
Standard Unit	$450	$2950	$5900
Spiritual Formation Unit	$800	$3600	N/A
Research Unit	N/A	$3250	$6500
Counselling Standard Unit	N/A	$3200	N/A
Counselling Spinal Unit	N/A	$4150	N/A

Students holding a pension card and paying their fees upfront may be eligible for a $200 pension discount per standard 9CP unit at the relevant level of study.

To apply for a pension discount simply contact ACOM and provide a current copy of your pension card. Once your eligibility has been confirmed by staff, register for units making a note of your pension discount.

Key Dates

2024 Key Dates

Note the following definitions:
Census Date: Last date to withdraw from a unit without financial penalty.
Academic Penalty Date: Last date to withdraw from a unit without academic penalty. If a student withdraws from a unit between the Census Date and the Academic Penalty Date, the unit will appear on their transcript with a withdrawn grade.

Check below for the key dates associated with your trimester of study. Note that registering or withdrawing outside of the key dates could incur incidental fees.

2024	Year Long	Trimester 1	Trimester 2	Trimester 3	Summer 2024-2025
Unit Registration Deadline	28/01/2024	28/01/2024	28/04/2024	4/08/2024	3/11/2024
Start Date	19/02/2024	19/02/2024	27/05/2024	2/09/2024	25/11/2024
Census Date	15/04/2024	11/03/2024	17/06/2024	23/09/2024	16/12/2024
Academic Penalty Date	7/07/2024	31/03/2024	7/07/2024	13/10/2024	5/01/2025
End Date	24/11/2024	12/05/2024	18/08/2024	24/11/2024	16/02/2025

Future Pathways

Studying with ACOM

Study Load and Demand Hours

Students can choose to study part-time or full-time. ACOM operates on a trimester basis, with formation and other select units, being taken over the course of the full year. A full-time load is considered six to nine units, which is usually two to three units per trimester, with one year-long unit. A part-time load is usually three to four units per year.

Each 9 credit point unit requires 143 demand hours of study. The demand hours represents the number of hours needed to meet all the requirements of the unit, including reading, researching and writing assignments and essays, and supervised fieldwork (see Student Handbook for hour breakdown).

For each unit we recommend that you allocate approximately 10-12 hours for study per week (with more required during peak assessment periods).

Computer Requirements

The Study Process

Students apply and are admitted to their course, which are made up of both core and elective units. All new students are required to complete Student Orientation, which involves both signing up for a Student Orientation Session, and taking part in a Student Orientation module through the online learning platform.

All students have access to personalised support through a dedicated Student Engagement Manager (or SEM). Our awesome team of SEMs bring a personal connection and listening ear to students who are spread the length and breadth of the country. SEMs work closely with each student to provide tailored academic and pastoral support, cheering them on every step of their learning journey. Read more about our Personalised Support.

A variety of units will be on offer each trimester for students to view on the unit schedules, and register in for study. All of our courses are flexible for students to choose their units and load according to their time commitments, interests and courseplans.

All students study 'online' through our online Learning Platform: Moodle. This is where all study materials, unit information, assessments and learning activities can be found.

At the point of selecting to study a unit, you will have the opportunity to register in different types of scheduled facilitated events, or ‘facilitations.’ These facilitations are real-time student events run by staff or faculty, designed to assist you with your learning and the requirements of the unit. Read more about facilitations.

For more student information see:

Student Handbook
Student Policies

Assignments

ACOM assessments are essay based and do not usually involve exams. Units may include online quizzes and practical assessments that are completed in your ministry setting. Assessment dates are clearly published on our Learning Platform (Moodle) and all tasks must be submitted to pass the unit.

Required readings are provided for students with online library access for further research. ACOM is continuously improving its digital library of learning resources. We have thousands of specialist books, articles and journals available to our students through our copyright licensing arrangements. Useful for both research and personal study, our students have access to over 100,000 e-books and journals on the Bible, leadership, pastoral care, theology and more. To read more go to our Digital Learning Systems.

Some units may require the student to purchase textbook(s), so please check the textbook lists on the schedules or at the point of registration.

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