International Student Checklist

Your admission packet includes many important documents that you should review thoroughly, including your admission letter.

Because some documents require an action, we strongly encourage you to read each document included and don’t hesitate to contact the admissions office if you have any questions.

In order to hold your spot in the incoming class, please submit your confirmation form and deposit. The confirmation deposit is $200, which will be applied to your account as your first payment towards tuition. You can submit the confirmation deposit online.

As for your confirmation form, please review it, fill it out, sign it and send it back to the admissions office. Once the confirmation form is filled out, you can scan or mail to the Admissions Office (admission@cst.edu).

Please review the Pre-Departure Information for incoming International Students in preparation of your arrival to Claremont School of Theology and review and complete the International Student Checklist

For students beginning their studies during the 2023-2024 academic year or later, all CST degrees will be offered in the following modalities: 

• Students in our Master’s programs (MDiv, MA, MTS) can take classes through our remote program that is made up of 100% online classes, or as residential students who attend a combination of online classes and in-person meetings on our campus in Westwood, Los Angeles.
• PhD students can take classes through our hybrid program that consists of online and in-person, weeklong, in-person intensive classes, or as residential students who attend a combination of online, intensive, and in-person classes. 
• DMin students will continue to take courses that are fully online and/or meet in weeklong, in-person, intensive classes. 

Students who are attending CST as remote Master’s, Hybrid PhD, or DMin students do not need to relocate to the Los Angeles area or live near the CST campus in order to complete a CST degree. Residential Master’s and PhD students are expected to live in close enough proximity to the CST campus to attend weekly class sessions on time, and should take into account traffic and public transportation schedules when selecting their housing. Beginning in Summer 2023, CST will not have long-term student housing for entering students. But our leadership continues to work to identify options for potential short-term housing stays in order to assist students during intensive course visits. We will share more details about those options as they become available. If you have any further questions, please contact housing@cst.edu.

If you are a first time applicant for an F-1 visa, you are required to pay the SEVIS fee before your visa interview. For more information and to pay the fee, go to www.FMJfee.com.

After you receive your I-20 form and have paid the SEVIS fee, you can apply for an F-1 student visa. For a list of U.S. embassies go to http://www.usembassy.gov.

For wait times, please go to https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

Accordion Content

Make sure you put the following in your carry-on luggage: visa, Sevis I-901 fee receipt, passport, I-20 form, admission letter, and financial support documentation. Detailed information is available at Pre-Departure Information.

• International Student Orientation – TBA
• On-Campus Orientation – TBA

Please be sure you are on-campus by the morning of TBA. We recommend that you arrive a few days before the International Student Orientation.

As soon as you get settled, bring your passport, I-20 form and your local address information to the International Student Advisor.

We also strongly encourage you to review the admitted student web page.