Demand Increases for Theology Courses

Posted on 16. Sep, 2008

Demand increases for Theology courses

After a decade of decline, student demand for third level theology courses has increased this year.
The minimum entry requirement for the Bachelor in Theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, which is determined by the number of applicants, rose by almost 50 points this year to 305 points, compared to last year’s all-time low of 260 points.
Entry points for St Patricks’ Bachelor in Theology and Arts, which had been falling since 1998, also increased, to 315 points- this year.

A similar increase in theology students is evident at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.According to the Head of Theology Department, Eamonn Conway, the number of students choosing theology as part of the college’s Liberal Arts degree has almost doubled in the past two years. Last year 130 students elected to study theology and a similiar number is expected for 2008.

Entry points for the course now stand at 380, making it one of the highest points requirements for an Arts course in the country.
Admissions Officer at Maynooth College, Sandra Norgrove, said the increase could be attributed to the fact that Arts courses in general were over-subscribed this year as students veered away from courses relating to the construction sector.

Reflective
Ms Norgrove said the increase was also reflective of figures from the Department of Education that showed more students were choosing Religious Studies at second level.
She said the previous decline was due in part to a demographic fall in the number of students sitting the Leaving Certificate exam, which is now reversing.
Prof Conway said the uptake of religion at second level would become more apparent at third level in the coming years.
“Only a handful of the students taking the Liberal Arts degree had studied religion for the Leaving Cert but certainly in the next few years we should see more of an increase from that.”
Prof Conway said prospective students were learning through word of mouth that theology was an inter-disciplinary subject grounded in reason.
About half of students taking the Liberal Arts degree will continue on to do a Higher Diploma to teach he said.

Siobhán Tanner The Irish Catholic September 11th 2008