The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (STM) is a Jesuit school of graduate theology at Boston College. It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship and service, especially within the Catholic Church. Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry and Theology Department ranked 10th among universities worldwide in Theology, Divinity, and Religious studies in the 2020 QS World University Rankings. It was one of two Catholic institutions, along with the University of Notre Dame, in the top 10. History The School of Theology and Ministry was founded in the merger of Weston Jesuit School of Theology and Boston College Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry on June 1, 2008. Weston College opened in 1922 as a center of philosophy for the New England Province of the Jesuits in Weston, Massachusetts. Weston College expanded in 1927 to prepare men for ordination, and later to include religious and lay men and women, as the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Historically, the School of Theology at Weston College was listed in the Boston College course catalog as a constituent school of the university, with the names of theological degree graduates in the commencement program. But the connection between Boston College and Weston College was non-legal and had never been properly defined, according to university historians. Meanwhile, Weston College in 1967 joined with Boston College and five other theological institutions to form the Boston Theological Institute (BTI), increasing cooperation and academic opportunities in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. For the first time, Weston College matriculated students in its theology programs who were not members of the Jesuit order. In 1968, Weston College moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and also became one of the first three Catholic schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in 1968. In 1971, Boston College opened a summer Institute of Religious Education and Service, which later became known as the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (IREPM), offering hands-on ministerial training to men and women. The Institute expanded its academic offerings and awarded its first degree in 1975. In 1974, the arrangement between Weston College and Boston College ceased, and Weston College changed its name to Weston School of Theology. In December 2004, Boston College announced plans to create a School of Theology and Ministry by merging the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral