ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy in Prison Outreach Ministry
Ph.D. credential
Explore a ministry of Christian hope for people in prison, their families, and those rebuilding life after release.
Doctor of Philosophy in Prison Outreach Ministry: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
Doctoral study in Prison Outreach Ministry is for chaplains and directors researching correctional ministry. Ministry in a prison happens under security procedures, on someone else's schedule, with a population that keeps being transferred. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers what is actually possible inside, the families outside, the re-entry that usually fails in the first month, restorative practice, and the congregational preparation that makes a welcome real.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Philosophy in Prison Outreach Ministry through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Prison Outreach Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Prison Outreach Ministry
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Reason theologically about punishment, mercy, and restoration
Operate effectively within correctional constraints without being co-opted by them
Prepare people and congregations for re-entry realistically
Apply restorative principles where they fit and recognise where they do not
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Design a discipleship programme workable within institutional constraints
Build a re-entry plan addressing housing, work, and relationships
Prepare a congregation to receive a returning person with care and safeguarding
Assess whether a restorative process is appropriate in a given case
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Prison chaplain
Re-entry ministry director
Restorative justice coordinator
Congregational outreach leader
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
Bible study in conditions of transfer, lockdown and mixed literacy, where continuity cannot be assumed from one week to the next.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament on justice, restitution and mercy, including the legal material that treats punishment as bounded rather than unlimited.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament's prisoners — Paul in chains, the imprisoned addressed in Hebrews — and the church's earliest experience of the inside.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
Doctrine under confinement: guilt, forgiveness, repentance and hope, taught to people for whom each word has an immediate legal meaning.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Justice and Mercy
Justice and mercy in Scripture and Christian tradition, and the theological questions that punishment, retribution, and restoration raise for the church.
Doctoral Seminar: Ministry Inside Correctional Settings
How prison ministry actually works: security procedures, institutional relationships, volunteer regulation, and the constraints within which anything happens.
Doctoral Seminar: Discipleship in Confinement
Discipleship inside, covering study, worship, mentoring, and the particular obstacles of transfer, lockdown, and a population that turns over.
Doctoral Seminar: Families of the Incarcerated
The families outside, including visiting, children of prisoners, financial strain, stigma, and the congregational care that is usually missing.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Re-entry and Restoration
Release and the first weeks after it: housing, employment, identification, licence conditions, and the reasons re-entry commonly fails.
Doctoral Seminar: Restorative Justice Practice
Restorative practice in principle and in operation, including victim-offender conferencing, its evidence base, and the cases where it is inappropriate.
Doctoral Seminar: Trauma and Institutional Life
Trauma before and during incarceration, institutional adaptation, and what a trauma-informed approach means in a setting built on control.
Doctoral Seminar: Partnership With Congregations
Congregations as the place of reintegration, including preparation, realistic expectation, safeguarding, and the long accompaniment after the welcome.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The spiritual weight of working in an institution built on control, and the formation required to keep seeing people rather than cases.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A correctional or re-entry project designed within institutional constraints and evaluated honestly.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Prison Outreach Ministry Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.