First Things Article Rates Duke at the top

Over on Duke NewT, Nathan Eubank comments on an article by R. R. Reno on First Things, A 2009 Ranking of Graduate Programs in Theology. Duke just comes out on top, as it did last time Reno did some similar ranking. The ranking is geared towards Theology, and Reno appears to be exclusively interested in the Divinity School, but nevertheless it is nice to hear the endorsement. On the previous occasion, I corrected some of the misconceptions about the structure of the program here. This time there is a different but related misconception,

In the past, the main problem with Duke was institutional. The PhD program is run through the Duke University department of religion, and only a couple of students a year were admitted to study theology.

The PhD program is actually run by the Graduate Program in Religion, a collaborative venture involving both the Department of Religion and the Divinity School. It is true that only one or two students are admitted to the theology track each year, but there are eight or so students admitted to the program as a whole.