Schools
In 1995, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity College merged to become Trinity International University. In early 1998, Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, California (originally founded in 1980 as the Simon Greenleaf School of Law) joined the growing institution. Now, with more than 1,200 students, we are committed to the same vision with which we were founded in 1897 and determined to follow in the footsteps of the great universities that were founded on the cornerstone belief that all wisdom lies in Jesus Christ.
As Charles Malik has shown in his illuminating book A Christian Critique of the University (InterVarsity Press, 1982), the university is now the central institution of the modern world. Yet it is far from the university as it was established nearly one thousand years ago. The Christian schools of the past--- including the great American universities of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard---are now largely or entirely secular institutions, built not on a vision of the glory of God but as temples to the wisdom of this world. As Malik puts it, they have “swerved” from their grounding in Jesus Christ. Our task, if we are able to be salt in the world of our day, is to build institutions where we can think like Christians and learn to live as Christians in a culture in which both have become equally hard. Whether preparing to be attorneys, corporate leaders, counselors, missionaries, pastors, public servants, or teachers, whatever our calling under God, we need excellence in education grounded in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is the goal and task of Trinity.
“Engaging in God’s redemptive work in the world.” At the heart of Trinity’s mission lies its commitment to engage the culture for Jesus Christ. Trinity’s purpose is to enable its graduates in all schools and in every discipline to think and live like Christians in the twenty-first century. We believe that God calls His people into many kinds of service; Trinity’s calling is to prepare them to serve for His glory.
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS)
Dean: David W. Pao, PhD
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School offers doctoral and master's degree programs in Bannockburn, Illinois, as well as online and hybrid. At the heart of the divinity school is the Master of Divinity (MDiv), preparing pastors, teachers, and missionaries for Christian service. TEDS offers a professional MA program in Mental Health Counseling (CACREP accredited licensure program) as well as an academic MA in Theological Studies. TEDS offers a Master of Theology (ThM), a Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and a PhD with concentrations in educational, intercultural, or theological studies. Particularly unique options include a 72-unit Advanced Placement MDiv for those with an undergraduate ministry degree, and several graduate-level certificate programs.
Wisconsin Inmate Education Initiative (Undergraduate)
Trinity's inmate prison education program is an initiative that provides an undergraduate-level, Christian liberal arts education to incarcerated men at the Fox Lake Correctional Facility. This program is administered by Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Trinity Law School (TLS)
Dean: Eric Halvorson, JD
Trinity Law School, at the California Regional Center of Trinity International University, is strategically located in the City of Santa Ana, in the heart of Southern California. The law school faculty reflects Trinity’s commitment to high educational standards and an active engagement of the culture with the gospel’s profound and far-reaching implications. Trinity Law School offers a Juris Doctor (JD) degree and a Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree. The Juris Doctor is a 90-unit degree program that offers students flexible course schedules, affordable tuition, and the unique opportunity to study law from a Christian perspective; graduates are eligible to sit for the California Bar Examination. The Master of Legal Studies is a 30-unit degree program delivered entirely online and offers several specialty concentrations, including Human Resources Management and Church Administration.