Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Private · Selective · NY

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads172

Student:faculty7:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate74.2%

6-yr grad rate90.3%

Drop-out rate4.3%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$67k

Out-of-state tuition$67k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity20.9%

Gender diversity55.8%

International1.7%

IdentityJewish

Overview

The Jewish Theological Seminary sits on Manhattan's Upper West Side, a few blocks from Columbia, as the flagship academic institution of Conservative Judaism — it ordains rabbis and cantors and trains Jewish educators and communal professionals, in addition to running List College, its distinctive undergraduate arm. The identity here is that rigorous, text-based Jewish scholarship and a full secular liberal-arts education aren't separate pursuits to be balanced against each other, but a single course of study. It's a small, mission-driven institution, and List College students are one piece of a larger seminary community.

Academics

List College students earn two bachelor's degrees at once: one from JTS, one from Columbia University or Barnard College, sitting for a full slate of Columbia or Barnard courses alongside a structured Judaic curriculum in Talmud, Bible, Hebrew language, and Jewish history and thought. Course sequencing runs across several tracks depending on a student's incoming Hebrew and textual background, from beginner to advanced. The academic load is genuinely double, not a supplemental minor bolted onto a secular degree, and it draws students who want serious classical Jewish scholarship paired with an Ivy-caliber secular education rather than one or the other.

Campus & student life

Life is largely lived across the street at Columbia and Barnard — housing, dining, clubs, and most of the social scene run through those two campuses, since JTS itself is a small seminary building without the usual undergraduate social infrastructure. Students are observant or seriously engaged with Jewish practice, and daily rhythms follow the Jewish calendar closely, including Shabbat and holiday observance built into the academic schedule. The community is small and close-knit by necessity, given how few students nationally take this exact dual-enrollment path.

Getting in

Applicants need to be committed to both halves of the program going in, and JTS admission runs alongside a separate, full application to Columbia or Barnard — acceptance to both institutions is required, since neither is a formality granted through the other. JTS itself looks for genuine interest in Jewish text study and some Hebrew background, though placement tracks exist for students entering with less formal preparation, rather than a single Hebrew-fluency bar everyone must clear.

After graduation

A meaningful share of List College graduates continue directly into rabbinical or cantorial school, including JTS's own, while others move into Jewish communal work, day school and congregational education, or academia in Jewish studies and related humanities fields. The Columbia or Barnard degree also keeps conventional secular paths — law, medicine, business, the sciences — fully open.

Worth knowing

This is a joint-degree program layered onto two separate institutions, not a standalone campus experience, and it suits a narrow but well-defined kind of student: someone unwilling to trade elite secular academics for intensive Jewish learning, or vice versa. Students should expect the workload of two colleges at once, and campus life that's really borrowed from Columbia and Barnard rather than built at JTS itself.

jtsa.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate48.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1440–1580

Test policyoptional

Rec letters—

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying