Commitment to Diversity

The student body of the Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Care department consists of approximately 440 students from 48 states and 30 foreign countries with approximately 36.7% minority representation. The age of our students begins at 21 and extends to 70 with a median age of 42.  The student body is 29.2 percent male and 70.8 percent female.

The department has always expressed an ecumenical approach to denominational and religious affiliation and, as such, the student body is representative of many diverse denominational affiliations and inclusive of several world religious and philosophical movements. These shared experiences work together to enhance the curriculum experience of our students and broaden our understanding of spirituality and counseling. Concurrently, the vast religious experiences often cross cultural lines and brings a multicultural aspect to the department. This multicultural aspect informs not only the department, but also the counseling field as a whole, and seeks to bring a greater understanding of the counseling movement to underrepresented groups or cultures that have not been as open to the helping professions in the past.

The department also has the highest percentage of international student representation within Loyola University Maryland. Approximately 10% of all Pastoral Counseling students call another country home. When completing their program of study, these students will return to their home country and seek to continue or begin counseling services to a population that may or may not be familiar with the professional field of counseling. The global focus on the Pastoral Counseling programs has been an earmark of the program since its inception in 1976. If you are an international student or are looking to study abroad, please click here to read more about the international focus of the US based National Board of Certified Counselors International (NBCC-I).