Overview of JTS

History of The Jewish Theological Seminary

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) was founded in 1886 through the efforts of two distinguished rabbis, Dr. Sabato Morais and Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, along with a group of prominent lay leaders from Sephardic congregations in Philadelphia and New York. Its mission was to preserve the knowledge and practice of historical Judaism. In 1887, JTS held its first class of ten students in the vestry of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue, New York City's oldest congregation.

Since then, JTS has greatly expanded its mission, creating a beautiful campus and evolving into the prestigious center of Jewish learning it is today. A Jewish university with a world-class faculty and a diverse student body, JTS grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees through its five schools and offers enriching programs for the Jewish community in the United States, Israel, and around the world.

JTS schools and facilities include The Graduate School; The Rabbinical School; H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music; William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education; Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies; the Rebecca and Israel Ivry Prozdor, a model supplementary high school; a summer school; five research institutes, including the Melton Research Center for Jewish Education; lay leadership and professional institutes; community education programs; student residence halls; and the incomparable, world-renowned collections of The Library.

In addition, JTS's affiliation with The Jewish Museum and consortia with prestigious academic neighbors support and enhance the scholarly ambiance of its community of learning.

An engine for outreach, JTS is committed to the introduction of religious alternatives in Israel and eastern Europe through its Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; to training a new Russian Jewish intelligentsia through Project Judaica, its Jewish studies program in Moscow; to raising a generation of literate and observant Jews in North America through its intensive work with the Ramah camps and Schechter schools. JTS is also committed to providing adults with Jewish knowledge and experience through a panoply of innovative programs, helping to create a responsible and informed Conservative Jewish voice on public issues from religious pluralism in Israel to bioethics.

Our multifaceted community is committed to making Judaism come alive for new generations, to bring the richness and vitality of traditional Jewish values into the twenty-first century.

Accreditation

JTS is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and is chartered by the Regents of the State of New York. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the US Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. JTS offers the degrees of bachelor and master of arts, master of philosophy, doctor of philosophy, doctor of Hebrew literature, doctor of education, and bachelor and master of sacred music, and it ordains rabbis and confers the diploma of hazzan on qualified candidates. Inquiries regarding JTS's accreditation and licensing may be directed to Dr. Michael B. Greenbaum, vice chancellor / chief operating officer.

Middle States
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), established in 1887, is a nonprofit, membership association, dedicated to educational improvement through evaluation and accreditation. The Commission on Higher Education is the unit of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools that accredits degree-granting colleges and universities in the Middle States region. It examines the institution as a whole, rather than specific programs within the institution.

New York State
The Regents of New York State are responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within the state, presiding over The University and the New York State Education Department. The University of the State of New York is the nation's most comprehensive and unified educational system. It consists of all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions, libraries, museums, public broadcasting, records and archives, professions, Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities, and such other institutions, organizations, and agencies as may be admitted to The University. The concept of The University of the State of New York is a broad term encompassing all the institutions, both public and private, offering education in the state.