Every class has fewer than 20 students, and every class begins with a question—a question formulated to foster a genuine investigation into the meaning of a text, not to elicit a ready-made answer. Where that discussion may travel during the class is unpredictable. It all depends on the moment-to-moment dynamism of human conversation in an encounter with a text of inexhaustible richness. The classroom experience is an adventure—and the graduate students a genuine intellectual community.

Becoming educated is a process of becoming intellectually free so as to be capable of thinking for oneself, engaging in ongoing learning and inquiry, and achieving inner freedom. Our students are professionals enhancing their careers, academics seeking a rigorous immersion in interdisciplinary thought, and adults interested in investigating the roots of current issues through thoughtful inquiry and conversation. At St. John’s, we believe that the life of the mind is crucial to full human flourishing.

Find a home at St. John’s College no matter where you live.

Students can now complete each of our graduate degree programs online. You will experience a deeply personal education rooted in the St. John’s tradition of great books and thoughtful exploration alongside your fellow students and our experienced tutors, from anywhere in the world. There are no prerecorded lessons, no lectures, no asynchronous instruction, and no overenrolled classes.

Whether you are exploring some of the deepest and most persistent questions in the Western classics through our interdisciplinary Liberal Arts degree, immersing yourself in the classic texts of India, China, and Japan in our Eastern Classics degree, or learning how to introduce new generations to meaningful conversations with our Liberal Arts Education Certificate, the Graduate Institute’s flexible schedules, small class sizes with real-time instruction, and experienced and engaged faculty are available to you. Students taking online classes have the same access to one-on-one meetings with tutors, student support services, and tuition assistance and scholarships as our in-person students.

Students are assisted in their understanding of the great books by faculty members that are referred to as “tutors” rather than “professors.” The title “tutor” is used to signify that our faculty’s chief role is not to profess or lecture in their area of expertise, but to guide the students through the program of study. The tutors guide discussions by asking questions, supplying helpful examples, and encouraging students to explore the implications of their statements. During class, a tutor spends a great deal of time actively listening as students work through the difficulties of a particular text. Tutors raise issues or objections along the way but always encourage the students to find answers for themselves.

Students regularly meet with faculty in and out of the classroom; in addition, first and second semester students have a formal conference at which they discuss their work with all their tutors. The conference takes the form of a conversation about the student’s work in which the tutors present their perceptions of the student’s progress and the student says how he or she thinks the work is going, how the tutors might provide additional help, or how the classes might be made more useful. Although the college does create a transcript with letter grades, students are encouraged not to work for grades but for the intrinsic satisfaction of learning.

There are regular written assignments in addition to reading and discussion. Students who wish to undertake a more extensive piece of written work may submit a proposal to write a Master’s Essay. Upon completion, the essay is read by a committee of three tutors, who also conduct a public oral examination of the student.

The Statement of the Program articulates the mission of St. John’s College and our Great Books curriculum for both undergraduates and graduates.

From the Statement: “St. John’s College is persuaded that a genuine liberal education requires the study of great books—texts of words, symbols, notes, and pictures—because they are both timeless and timely. These books are the most important teachers. They illuminate the persisting questions of human existence and they bear directly on the problems we face today. They express most originally, and often most perfectly, the ideas by which contemporary life is knowingly or unknowingly governed. Their authors can speak to us almost as freshly as when they spoke for the first time, for what they have to tell us is not of merely academic concern, nor is it remote from our true interests. They change our minds, move our hearts, and touch our spirits.”

Contact Graduate Admissions (gradadmissions(at)sjc.edu) for more information. You can also schedule an online conversation with program leadership or book a class observation.