Complex sentence: Southern was one of the first seminaries in the nation to offer the Ph. D. degree, beginning in 1895, and during the 1970's and 1980's had the largest accredited Ph.D. program in religion in the United States.
Split into simpler sentences: Southern was one of the first seminaries in the nation to offer the Ph. D. degree, beginning in 1895. During the 1970s and 1980s, it had the largest accredited Ph.D. program in religion in the United States.