Payne Theological Seminary
About
Payne Theological Seminary is an African Methodist Episcopal historically black seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is the oldest free-standing African-American seminary in the United States. Incorporated in 1894 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was named after Daniel Alexander Payne, the founder of Wilberforce University. Payne was Senior Bishop of the AME Church at the time of the Seminary’s founding and served as its first dean. He was the first African-American college president.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 3 Title IV programs, 2 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 1 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing2 · 66.7%
- No Data1 · 33.3%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
Action history · 4
- Feb 2026Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Jan 2020Accreditation Reaffirmed: Warning RemovedCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Mar 2019Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Mar 2017Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: WarningCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, students received in Pell grants, alongside $1.6M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 74 borrowers who entered repayment, 0 (0.0%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Payne Theological Seminary
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Payne Theological Seminary vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Payne Theological Seminary selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectPayne Theological Seminary | — | — | 124 | — | — |
| — | — | 1,689 | — | — | |
| — | — | 155 | — | — | |
| — | — | 210 | — | — | |
| — | — | 215 | — | — | |
| — | — | 213 | — | — | |
| — | — | 127 | — | — | |
| — | — | 589 | — | — | |
| — | — | 279 | — | — | |
| — | — | 550 | — | — | |
| — | — | 2,589 | — | — | |
| — | — | 1,890 | — | — | |
| — | — | 313 | — | — | |
| — | — | 1,352 | — | — | |
| — | — | 150 | — | — | |
| — | — | 240 | — | — | |
| — | — | 371 | — | — | |
| — | — | 157 | — | — | |
| — | — | 186 | — | — | |
| — | 100.0% | 20 | — | — | |
| — | — | 173 | — | — | |
| — | — | 296 | — | — | |
| — | — | 202 | — | — | |
| — | — | 302 | — | — | |
| — | — | 201 | — | — | |
| — | — | 159 | — | — | |
| — | — | 234 | — | — | |
| — | — | 254 | — | — | |
| — | — | 510 | — | — | |
| — | — | 226 | — | — | |
| — | — | 374 | — | — | |
| — | — | 755 | — | — | |
| — | — | 397 | — | — | |
| — | — | 1,183 | — | — | |
| Peer group median | — | 100.0% | 247 | — |
Institutions like Payne Theological Seminary
Explore the federal data for institutions in Payne Theological Seminary's comparison group.
- Kentucky
Asbury Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment1,689Net price—View data - Texas
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment155Net price—View data - Illinois
Catholic Theological Union at Chicago
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment210Net price—View data - Illinois
Chicago Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment215Net price—View data - California
Claremont School of Theology
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment213Net price—View data - Georgia
Columbia Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment127Net price—View data - Missouri
Concordia Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment589Net price—View data - Indiana
Concordia Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment279Net price—View data - Missouri
Covenant Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment550Net price—View data - Texas
Dallas Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment2,589Net price—View data - California
Fuller Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment1,890Net price—View data - Illinois
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment313Net price—View data - Massachusetts
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment1,352Net price—View data - California
Graduate Theological Union
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment150Net price—View data - New York
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment240Net price—View data - Minnesota
Luther Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment371Net price—View data - Tennessee
Memphis Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment157Net price—View data - Ohio
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment186Net price—View data - Pennsylvania
Missio Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate100.0%Enrollment20Net price—View data - Texas
Oblate School of Theology
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment173Net price—View data - Arizona
Phoenix Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment296Net price—View data - Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment202Net price—View data - New Jersey
Princeton Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment302Net price—View data - North Carolina
Shepherds Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment201Net price—View data - Virginia
Union Presbyterian Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment159Net price—View data - New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment234Net price—View data - Pennsylvania
United Lutheran Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment254Net price—View data - Ohio
United Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment510Net price—View data - Minnesota
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment226Net price—View data - District of Columbia
Wesley Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment374Net price—View data - Oregon
Western Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment755Net price—View data - Michigan
Western Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment397Net price—View data - Pennsylvania
Westminster Theological Seminary
Grad rate—Admit rate—Enrollment1,183Net price—View data
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about Payne Theological Seminary
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Payne Theological Seminary.
How many students attend Payne Theological Seminary?
Where is Payne Theological Seminary located?
About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about Payne Theological Seminary and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card