Biola University Acquires Phoenix Seminary, Forming Talbot Seminary Phoenix
Biola University's Talbot School of Theology completed its acquisition of Phoenix Seminary on August 25, an evangelical graduate school that has trained pastors in Scottsdale, Arizona, for more than three decades. The Scottsdale campus continues operating as Talbot Seminary Phoenix, a second graduate school location for Talbot alongside its main campus in California. Phoenix Seminary's board began discussing the merger with Biola in January after concluding the school could not sustainably continue on its own, having run an annual budget deficit of about $1 million against roughly $3.3 million in total assets.
Phoenix Seminary board chair Ron Ogan said the decision reflects prayerful consideration of the seminary's future rather than a last resort. Biola president Barry Corey said the acquisition is meant to honor and carry forward Phoenix Seminary's legacy. Combined, Talbot's California and Arizona campuses will enroll about 1,800 students, making Talbot one of the largest interdenominational seminaries in the country, second only to Dallas Theological Seminary.
