In order to become pastoral counselors, all students must complete a 1,000 hour internship in agencies throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. Interns work in a great variety of placements, including high school and college counseling centers, hospice programs, sexual assault centers, alcohol and substance abuse centers and working with seniors. The goal of supervision is to assist individuals as they seek to become knowledgeable and competent practitioners committed to the counseling ministry. There are eight full-time and 32 adjunct faculty. There are now over 800 graduates world wide.
Travel time is approximately thirty-five minutes to either city.
The Columbia campus is located in a secure park-like setting within walking distance from a lake with a walking path. The Abstracts for Pastoral Counseling Research and Review for the Social Scientific Study of Religion are compiled and edited at Loyola. The Institute for Religious Research, that is part of the department, has conducted a major research study on prisoners and religion. The Ph.D. students are among the major contributors to empirical research in a field where there is little hard data available. For a department of eight full-time faculty, this is quite noteworthy.