Fellowships are awarded for the PhD program in recognition of academic achievement and in expectation of scholarly success. Teaching and research experience are considered an important aspect of the training of doctoral students. Thus, fellowships for students in the PhD program include up to six semesters of teaching apprenticeship.
The student must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in the United States or the international equivalent with a record that indicates capacity for graduate work of high quality. Preparation should include language study as may be required for work in the proposed area of specialization. There should be extensive work in the liberal arts, including history, literature, and philosophy, as well as in the social sciences. If the proposed area of concentration is a social-scientific approach to the study of religion there should also be extra work in the social sciences.