Welcome to the Perkins and Memphis Teach-Out Program

A teach-out program is a formal agreement between accredited institutions that allows students from a closing institution to complete their degree program at another institution.

Under the Perkins–Memphis teach-out agreement:

• Each Memphis student will be offered a program of study that will enable them to complete the same degree or a comparable degree within a reasonable period of their previously anticipated date of graduation from Memphis
• All credits earned at Memphis will be accepted by Perkins, including credits Memphis awarded based on work completed at other institutions
• Students receive academic advising and institutional support throughout the transition

You are eligible if you:

• Are a currently enrolled Memphis student scheduled to complete your degree after May 2026
• Are in good academic and disciplinary standing at Memphis
• Formally elect the teach-out option at Perkins no later than March 31, 2026

Perkins School of Theology is the official teach-out partner of Memphis Theological Seminary with the teach-out plan approved by our accreditors. It is especially important that D.Min. students work through Perkins in the teach-out because of the cohort structure of the program in order to keep the groups already formed studying together. This also allows Perkins to have sufficient numbers of students in each cohort class.

Master’s students are not required to transfer to Perkins and may seek to transfer to any school that will accept them. There are, however, several distinct advantages to working with Perkins as the official teach-out partner:

(a) In a teach-out, transfer of all credits earned at Memphis and all credits previously accepted by Memphis at other institutions is guaranteed. 

By contrast, students seeking transfer must apply, individually, for admission to another institution, which is then free to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept the student as well as how many and which academic credits to accept from the student’s work at Memphis or prior institutions. Credits from prior coursework are often not all accepted—or are accepted only as electives, narrowing their applicability toward graduation requirements.

(b) Guaranteed admission for any currently enrolled Memphis student in good academic and disciplinary standing – no admission application or application fees;

(c) 100% tuition scholarship award is guaranteed to all Memphis current students for credits needed to graduate in their chosen degree program;

(d) You will finish the same or comparable degree with the same or comparable course requirements;

(e) Perkins will offer maximum flexibility in designing a customized plan of study to help you finish your degree with the same guaranteed time-to-completion allowed by Memphis.

No application is required.

Memphis students are automatically accepted by Perkins under the teach-out agreement. To move forward, students will be asked to:

• Formally elect the teach-out option by completing a short form - Access the Teach-Out Election Form
• Complete a modified Perkins online application form for record-keeping purposes

There are no application or admission fees associated with the teach-out.

Yes. Memphis students in good academic and disciplinary standing who elect the teach-out option are admitted to Perkins under the terms of the agreement, provided no unforeseen disqualification arises.

Degrees awarded will be Southern Methodist University (Perkins School of Theology) degrees. Perkins will take reasonable steps to acknowledge students’ prior enrollment and study at Memphis. 

Memphis students will receive a full tuition scholarship as part of the teach-out agreement. Students are responsible for applicable fees. Financial aid in the form of a federal loan and billing support will be provided individually by the SMU Graduate Financial Aid office.

Students must elect the teach-out option by March 31, 2026 and may matriculate no later than Fall 2026. Students can start as early as Summer 2026.

Yes. Students may continue in remote and online learning formats consistent with current Memphis delivery models, with some opportunities for in-person, week-long intensives. Students are also welcome to relocate to Dallas and enroll in on-campus courses.

Yes. Teach-out students have full access to SMU and Perkins student services and resources.

Perkins will honor the same PSP arrangement offered by Memphis (four courses with three counting toward the degree if earned with a B average). Each student will be evaluated individually based on how many courses they took in the PSP program thus far and how well they did in those courses. In some cases, depending on how far along a student is in the PSP, Perkins may simply admit the student directly into a degree program. In other cases, Perkins may require full completion of the comparable 4-course sequence at Perkins with a B average. In all cases, PSP students will be able to transfer into Perkins with no additional application, application fees, and with 100% tuition scholarship.

Perkins plans to largely replicate the existing Memphis D.Min. program with the same courses and the same existing cohorts and intensives taken in Memphis through the completion of the program. The Perkins D.Min., however, is only 30 credits instead of the 32 for the Memphis D.Min., so students will not need to register for the additional 2-credits at the end of the program.

The Perkins M.Div. is very similar to the Memphis M.Div., and all credits earned so far will transfer in and count. The Perkins M.Div. is 75 credits rather than 78 credits as is the case with the Memphis M.Div., so students will take 3 credits less to earn the Perkins degree.

Perkins does not have a 48-hour MACM in the way that Memphis does. MACM students will have the choice of (a) finishing the Perkins 48-hour Master of Theological Studies degree (M.T.S), which is designed as an academic rather than ministerial degree, but which may be customized in ministerial directions (and, of course, all credits earned so far will transfer in); or (b) students may complete the Perkins 36-hour Master of Arts in Ministry (M.A.M). This may be the better route for most students as it is ministerially oriented even though it is fewer credits (making it faster to complete).

If you have additional questions, please reach out to PerkinsEnrollment@smu.edu.