The Catholic Biblical
Association of
America
CBA Scholarship Grants
The Catholic Biblical Association has established scholarships for students in doctoral programs in biblical studies at four institutions, namely, The Catholic University of America, The Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, the University of Notre Dame, and Fordham University. The conditions are as follows:
1. The CBA will pay full tuition annually to the institution and a stipend of $12,500 annually to the candidate.
2. The candidate will be nominated by the institution and will be granted the scholarship by the CBA. The candidate must be a graduate student with the potential to become a scholar who would be a credit to the CBA and the university by exemplifying the best traditions of Catholic biblical scholarship. The student's credentials, verified by a committee established by the institution, will be communicated to the CBA Scholarship Committee, chaired by Sister Carolyn A. Osiek, R.S.C.J., Chair of the CBA Scholarship Committee.
3. The candidate chosen for the scholarship shall be an associate CBA member or shall become one as soon as he/she is eligible.
4. The candidate must be a full-time student. The scholarship may be renewed by the candidate until the doctorate is obtained, up to a total of five years, providing he/she meets the academic and other standards established by the institution and the evaluation committee, and the institution continues to meet the necessary criteria. After the degree has been obtained or the five years have elapsed, the scholarship will be available for a new student.
5. The scholarships are named for outstanding CBA scholars: that to CUA, after Patrick W. Skehan and Louis F. Hartman, C.Ss.R; that to GTU, after Raymond E. Brown, S.S.; that to UND, after Bruce Vawter, C.M.; that at Fordham, after Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm.
6. The candidate will acknowledge the assistance given by the CBA in the preface of his/her dissertation.
It is the hope that the CBA scholarship program will strengthen Catholic biblical scholarship in our country in several ways:
1. By making it possible for students to pursue doctoral studies in Scripture who might not otherwise be able to do so;
2. By strengthening Scripture programs at Catholic institutions by bringing them students they would not otherwise have;
3. By enabling students to pursue studies at such institutions rather than others that are often better endowed with scholarships;
4. By encouraging Catholic institutions to strengthen their biblical studies standards; e.g., by meeting the criteria established for eligibility for the CBA scholarship program.
The criteria for choosing the participating institutions are the following:
1. Doctoral programs in both Old Testament and New Testament, which programs include a theological component;
2. Quality programs, as judged on faculty and on course requirements, including biblical language requirements resembling those of the Pontifical Biblical Institute for the S.S.L., including both Hebrew and Greek, rather than one or the other, so that the successful candidate will be eligible for active membership in the CBA;
3. The institution is not already abundantly supplied with scholarship funds.
N.B. The choice of the institutions named above does not suggest they are the only ones that fulfill these criteria. It is hoped that in the future additional scholarships will be made available to other institutions.