The Fordham Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education (GRE) enrolled the first 14 students in its new Doctor of Ministry program this fall semester.

The students, which include both women and men, run the gamut from Catholic priests and Protestant ministers to lay and campus ministers. There are also students from India and Tanzania as part of the first cohort in the program, said John Elias, Ph.D., professor of religious education and social ministry and director of the fledgling program.

The state Department of Higher Education approved Fordham’s request to establish the program early this year. Fordham is the only Jesuit university in the country—and the only Catholic university in the New York City area—to confer the degree.

The program has three specializations: pastoral ministry, pastoral care and counseling, and spirituality and spiritual direction.