CHEQF · Fol. i
Judge the degree by what was learned, not by what it is called.
PATRIA·Church higher education
CHEQF — the Church Higher Education Qualifications Framework — is an international standard for seminaries, theological institutes and Church faculties. Three cycles, measurable learning outcomes, sixty credits a year, external review. It regulates the degree, never the ordination.
Draft 0.9 was published for consultation on 20 September 2026. It has not been approved and nothing here claims state accreditation. This site is the draft, opened.
One rule above all: an academic qualification and the ecclesiastical status of a person are distinct categories.
Fol. i½
One system, two documents: one for degrees, one for everything before and beside them.
00 The documents
Higher education · Draft 0.9 · 20 September 2026
Church Higher Education Qualifications Framework and Academic Standards
Bachelor, Master and Doctorate: three cycles, twenty-three degrees, EAC credits, external review every five years, a public registry of institutions and diplomas.
Non-degree programmes · Draft 1.0 · 20 September 2026
Sunday Schools; catechetical, pastoral, liturgical, social, administrative and other specialized church courses
Five age levels from preschool to adult catechesis, five course classes from six to three hundred and sixty hours, five kinds of certificate, safeguarding, three-year review cycles.
Fol. ii
Numbers are taken from the text, not from ambition.
Fol. iii
Follow a degree with the pointer: the wire shows where it opens the door.
01 The framework
Levels 6, 7 and 8 follow the logic of the European framework: bachelor, master, doctorate. The numbering is deliberately comparable and deliberately does not claim legal equivalence to any national level.
Each degree opens a specific door upward. A Bachelor of Theology leads to Master of Theology, Divinity or Ministry; a Master of Canon Law to Doctor of Canon Law. Nothing in this ladder leads to ordination.
Levels, credits and descriptors →Level 6First Cycle · Bachelor
Level 7Second Cycle · Master
Level 8Third Cycle · Doctorate
Ecclesiastical degree — no suffixChurch Degree — suffix CPoint at a degree to see where it leads
Fol. iv
A single letter carries the status of the whole qualification.
02 Degree nomenclature
A Master of Arts awarded inside the Church system is written M.A.C. — Master of Arts — Church Degree. The suffix identifies the status of the qualification, not the subject of study.
Where the discipline is inherently ecclesiastical — Theology, Divinity, Ministry, Canon Law — the suffix is not used: M.Th., M.Div., M.C.L. stand as they are.
M.A.C.
Master of Arts — Church Degree
M.A.C. in Church History
M.Th.
Master of Theology
M.Th. in Orthodox Systematic Theology
Individual institutions may not create new degree abbreviations. The rule forms part of the Standard.
Fol. v
Read this before you read the degrees. It is the honest part.
03 Limits of the qualification
The Standard regulates academic qualifications. It does not regulate the sacrament of ordination, incardination, appointment to ecclesiastical office, or recognition of clerical status. Those decisions belong to the competent Church authority, and no CHEQF degree, by itself, confers a right to them.
Fol. vi
Four academic statuses. A seminary is a fifth thing, and may hold one of the four.
04 For institutions
Seminaries, theological institutes, academies, faculties and study centres enter the system through expert review of documentation, resources and staffing. External peer review is mandatory before Doctoral Faculty status may be granted.
Re-evaluation takes place at least once every five years by a panel that includes persons independent of the institution. Outcomes range from authorisation without conditions to withdrawal.
Requirements, review and statuses →Provides individual courses and non-award programmes; does not confer degrees.
Delivers approved Level 5–6 programmes and selected Level 7 programmes; the degree is conferred by the central Awarding Body.
Delivers and administers Level 6–7 programmes and has its own Academic Board; degrees are conferred within the authority granted under the CHEQF system.
Authorised to deliver Level 8 doctoral programmes; requires a separate external review of the research environment, faculty, and supervisory system.
A Church institution for the formation of clergy. It may award academic degrees only if it additionally holds one of the academic statuses listed above.
Fol. vii
A standard nobody has read is not a standard. Read it, then write.
05 Consultation on two drafts
We are asking rectors and deans, faculty, Church authorities, students and credential evaluators to read the draft and tell us where it is wrong, unclear or unworkable. Comments go to office@patria.uno with the subject “CHEQF 0.9” or “Schools 1.0”.
What happens next is fixed by the Standard itself: it enters into force on the date of approval by the competent Church authority, and until Degree Programme Specifications are approved no institution may recruit students in its name. No dates are promised on this site.