Credit and Graduation

Seminary Credit & Graduation Requirements  

Seminary students can learn more effectively and deepen their conversion if they regularly attend class, participate, and study the scriptures outside of class. As they do these things, they also earn seminary credit each year and can graduate from seminary. 

Some students may have difficulty earning seminary credit due to reading challenges or other reasons. The teacher may adapt the requirements to the needs of these students. Adaptations for an entire program can be requested by the S&I representative.  

Student Recognition and Graduation Services 

Stake presidents are responsible for seminary graduation exercises. For recommended procedures, see Stake Seminary Graduation Guide on the S&I website. Certificate Presentations are listed below: 

Certificates of Completion 

Awarded each semester or year when a student has: 

• Attended at least 75 percent of the class sessions held in each of the two seminary semesters 

• Read the minimum reading requirement for the course of study 

• Completed at least one Assess Your Learning lesson each semester 

Seminary Diploma 

To qualify for a Seminary Diploma, students must: 

• Meet the course completion requirements for all 8 semesters of seminary (generally completed over 4 years) 

• Receive Ecclesiastical Endorsement (see below) 

Makeup work is available for students who have not met these requirements.

Ecclesiastical Endorsement 

To graduate from seminary, a student must earn four years of credit and receive an ecclesiastical endorsement from a bishopric member. This endorsement verifies that a student is worthy and committed to living the standards of the gospel. 

The bishop or one of his counsellors may complete these endorsements as part of regularly scheduled interviews. These interviews should be conducted early enough to allow the students time to work with the bishop to resolve any issues. 

To maintain confidentiality, information from bishops about an individual student’s worthiness should be given only to stake presidents and not to S&I personnel. If a bishop requests additional time beyond seminary graduation to resolve worthiness issues, the Seminary Diploma provided by S&I should be given to the bishop. It could then be awarded privately by the bishop when appropriate.