About
Starr King School for the Ministry is a multi-religious Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The school emphasizes the practical skills of religious leadership through the lens of Educating to Counter Oppressions (ECO). Today, it educates Unitarian Universalist ministers, religious educators, and spiritual activists, as well as progressive religious leaders from a variety of traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, earth-centered traditions, and others.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 2 Title IV programs, 1 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
- Passing1 · 50.0%
- No Data1 · 50.0%
- 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.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
Action history · 7
- Feb 2025Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: WarningCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Feb 2025Renewal of AccreditationCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Jun 2021Accreditation Reaffirmed: Warning RemovedCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Jun 2020Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: WarningCommission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools
- Jan 2020Renewal of AccreditationCommission 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 $1.0M 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 64 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (3.1%) defaulted within three years — above 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 SKSM
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
- Public property1
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
SKSM vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions SKSM 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectStarr King School for the Ministry | — | — | 77 | — | — |
Academy for Jewish Religion California | — | — | 58 | — | — |
Bethany Theological Seminary | — | — | 61 | — | — |
Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius | — | — | 24 | — | — |
Church Divinity School of the Pacific | — | — | 40 | — | — |
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest | — | — | 109 | — | — |
Franciscan School of Theology | — | — | 89 | — | — |
Hebrew College | — | — | 163 | — | — |
Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies | — | — | 74 | — | — |
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College | — | — | 46 | — | — |
Saint Meinrad School of Theology | — | — | 183 | — | — |
Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary | — | — | 143 | — | — |
Saint Vincent Seminary | — | — | 79 | — | — |
St Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry | — | — | 144 | — | — |
Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church | — | — | 12 | — | — |
Urshan Graduate School of Theology | — | — | 116 | — | — |
Wartburg Theological Seminary | — | — | 161 | — | — |
Westminster Theological Seminary in California | — | — | 108 | — | — |
| Peer group median | — | — | 84 | — |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Notable alumni of SKSM (9)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Vanessa Ament
- Sofía Betancourt
- Marc Estrin
- Kelly Flood
- Stephanie Kaza
- Adrian Melott
- Peter Morales
- William G. Sinkford
- Sam Webster
Frequently asked questions about Starr King School for the Ministry
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about SKSM.
How many students attend Starr King School for the Ministry?
Where is Starr King School for the Ministry located?
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