FAQ: 2026 Updates to Academic Programs
Theological education, and higher education more broadly, have been changing rapidly for some time now. Many Masters degree programs across all disciplines are now primarily offered in online and hybrid modalities. All seminaries are wrestling with how to respond to the significant changes in higher education and in the church (e.g., the declines in mainline congregations leading to fewer students coming to seminary from those congregations). Seminaries are responding in different ways to these challenges but all are seeking to respond in some way that is faithful to their contexts and their mission.
God is still calling people into ministry, but their circumstances have changed such that the 100% in-person residential model on our Richmond campus is not feasible for an increasing number of students. At UPSem, our goal is to reach more prospective students who are called by God to ministry, and who are seeking the excellent preparation that UPSem has offered for over two hundred years. We can do this by making that education more accessible to more people.
1. Why make this change now?
Initial hybrid conversations began in the 2009-2014 strategic plan, and a 2021 task force on the possibility of hybrid programs began to understand the urgent need for increased access to UPSem’s educational programs. This change has been under consideration for several years. It is not a reactive cost-saving measure, but a Spirit-led, mission-driven evolution to make high-quality theological education more accessible. This is an exciting move to reach more people called to pastoral leadership and meet them where they currently are in life. Removing barriers to theological education is part of our Reformed witness. When we say ‘all are called,’ we mean it.
2. How were these decisions made?
The faculty engaged in a thorough process of curriculum revision over the past year and also approved the new calendar. In the case of the hybrid and online learning modalities, there were many conversations with multiple constituencies, including a task force with faculty, staff, trustee, and student representation, which engaged faculty, staff, and students more broadly.
3. Will these curricular changes impact current students?
The changes described above will NOT affect students graduating in 2025 or 2026. For students graduating in 2027, this change may affect how they fulfill degree requirements. We are committed to providing as smooth a transition as possible for all our students.
4. How will this impact international students?
UPSem values the global reach of its programs and its international students. We anticipate continuing to welcome international students to live on our Richmond campus, where they will be able to access courses across our campuses.
5. Will any of UPSem’s degree programs be fully online?
In addition to the Master of Arts in Christian Education (M.A.C.E.), which is already offered in an online format, two of our other degree programs will be fully online beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year: the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) and Master of Arts in Public Theology (M.A.P.T.) programs. These two programs have traditionally attracted students who have traveled considerable distances to participate in on-campus class sessions. This travel often does not fit their budget or their season of life. By making these two programs fully online, more students will have access to these practitioner-oriented programs. (The Faculty also will work on curricular revisions to the D.Min. program in the 2025-2026 academic year.)
6. How will you build community and ensure spiritual formation in a hybrid format?
We hear and honor the central role that in-person community has played in many alumni’s formation. We are not replacing formation with content delivery—we are adapting it with deep care. The first major revision in several decades, the curriculum takes seriously the formational needs of persons preparing to lead gospel-inspired transformative change in pursuit of a more just and compassionate world in the mid-21st century. Over the past thirty years, we have built a strong track record in building community and ensuring spiritual formation in a hybrid format, beginning with the hybrid M.A.C.E. program that began in the 1990s, and more recently with the hybrid M.Div. and M.A.C.E. programs on the Charlotte campus. Spiritual formation is still central—we’re just forming in more than one way. In this next season at UPSem, careful attention will be given to how students are formed for ministry, both in their current ecclesial contexts and through UPSem’s intentionally cultivated community of belonging, created to support their learning and formation. Integration of the curricular and extra-curricular dimensions of their experience will be a high priority. We will explore new ways to build community and foster spiritual formation in this age of technology, which will benefit students when they, as graduates, are called to build community and ensure spiritual formation in a new age.
7. How will these changes impact students on the Charlotte campus?
All UPSem students will have significantly more access to all UPSem courses and faculty members, something students on both campuses have desired for a long time.
8. How does this impact financial aid?
It will not impact financial aid. Students will keep the aid they have, and we will continue to be generous in awarding aid to incoming students. Cost of attendance should never be a barrier to a UPSem education.
9. What does this mean for the Richmond campus?
The Richmond campus will be revitalized as a dynamic hub of learning and as a community of belonging for learners of all kinds, degree and non-degree. We will be utilizing some of the buildings on campus to house students when they come to campus for intensive in-person classes at various times in each term. There is no plan of any kind to close the Richmond campus. That would run counter to everything we are planning for. We are in the preliminary phase of relaunching a campaign to renovate Westminster Hall to become Blount Hall at Westminster, which, as has always been the plan, will serve as the home for the Leadership Institute, whose enhanced programming will serve pastoral leaders—lay and ordained—who are hungry for educational opportunities to support them in their ministries. The library will continue to be a resource for the entire UPSem community, with its physical and digital collections. Likewise, the dining hall will be a critically important site of community life for hybrid students and learners who come for in-person events hosted by the Leadership Institute and our four centers.
In sum, God is calling us to be faithful in this moment, so we press on in hope and are guided by the Spirit. The new hybrid and online modalities will make us one of the most accessible providers of theological education in the PCUSA, and when paired with our generous financial aid, we will be positioned well to fulfill our mission. If you have additional questions, we would be glad to try to answer them! We can be reached at info@upsem.edu.
A Legacy of Courageous Change: Key Moments in Union’s History
- 1812 – Founded as a bold experiment in theological education by the Synod of Virginia, Union was created to train ministers for a growing Presbyterian Church in the early republic.
- 1898 – Moved from Hampden-Sydney (Farmville) to Richmond, positioning the Seminary in an urban setting to better serve the church and expand its reach.
- 2002– Established the Charlotte campus in partnership with Queens University, extending Union’s mission to new regions and offering theological education to working adults and second-career students.
- 2012 – Charlotte campus relocated to Sharon Presbyterian Church, creating a stronger identity for the Seminary in the region and expanding access to theological formation.
- 1997 – Federated with the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (PSCE), combining two historic institutions to integrate Christian education and theological scholarship in a single mission.
- 2020– Welcomed Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR) into Union’s community by establishing the Baptist House of Studies, preserving a tradition of Baptist theological education in Richmond.
- 2023– Rev. Dr. Brian K. Blount retires as the first African American president of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary, leaving a legacy of prophetic leadership and academic excellence.
- 2023 – Dr. Jacqueline E. Lapsley becomes the first woman president of Union signaling a new era of faithful innovation and inclusive leadership.
