Entry-Level Competency Exams (ELCEs)
All incoming accepted and confirmed pastoral ministry students are required to demonstrate a basic understanding of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian doctrine. Those who have studied biblical Greek or biblical Hebrew may also demonstrate competency in these areas. Each proctored exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and has a time limit of 75 minutes. Three attempts are allowed per exam.
Deadlines & Resources
The Registrar’s Office must receive your ELCE request form four weeks before the exam deadline.
Competency Exam Deadlines
Winter Incoming Accepted Students—October 15 (request deadline: Sept. 15)
Spring Incoming Accepted Students—January 15 (request deadline: Dec. 15)
Summer/Fall Incoming Accepted Students—July 31 (request deadline: July 1)
The primary study resources for passing the ELCEs are the Bible and Luther’s Small Catechism. You will also need to read a series of books that are essential to your preparation for the exams. Each book contains the information you need to know for the exam, and each chapter includes review material to help you check your comprehension. Find the required books on our bookstore page.
Please note that not every book is required for every program. Contact your admission counselor with questions about which books will be most beneficial to you.
Take Your ELCEs
Login Credentials
The Admission Office will send you an email with instructions, links, and your Questionmark username and password. If you have not received this email, request it from ELCE@ctsfw.edu.
Once you have your username and password, you may take your ELCEs when you are ready. Your attempts and scores are automatically recorded and reported to CTSFW. Contact Admission with questions about retakes, duration, and deadlines.
Taking the Exams
- Quit all applications that send notifications or open on startup. If a program is running, it may open or display a message that will cause Questionmark to end your exam, causing you to lose your attempt.
- Log in to Questionmark.
- After you log in, you will see a list of your exam requirements. Do not start the exam until you are ready to complete it. Once you click “Start,” your exam is logged as an attempt. If you close Questionmark before finishing the exam, you cannot return to that attempt.
- When the exam is complete, click “Exit” in the upper left-hand corner to leave the exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use the chart to see which exams you must take for your program. Information regarding registration and exam instructions is provided once your admission is confirmed.
To pass each of the ELCEs, incoming students must achieve a grade of 70% or higher. Students have three attempts to pass each ELCE.
Once all three attempts have been made without passing with a 70% or higher, you will do the following:
- Old Testament and New Testament: Take and pass CTSFW online courses in Old Testament and/or New Testament to fulfill the ELCE requirement. The courses may be taken during two different quarters.
- Biblical Greek: Take and pass CTSFW Biblical Greek either residentially or online before beginning classes (MDiv or AR).
- Biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew is not a prerequisite, but it is part of the required curriculum. If you demonstrate competency in Hebrew, you will substitute two general elective courses, plus two Old Testament Hebrew Readings courses, for the required Hebrew I and Hebrew II courses. Note: Hebrew is not required for the AR program.
- Christian Doctrine: No other coursework is required.
ELCE waivers are offered for incoming students who took approved courses at a Concordia University System (CUS) institution. Waivers may be requested from the Registrar’s Office. Incoming students must have received a “B” (3.0 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent) for each course to receive a waiver for entry-level competency requirements:
- Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian Doctrine: Successfully completed a three-semester-hour overview of each of these three required content areas.
- Biblical Greek: Successfully completed at least six semester hours of biblical Greek with at least one semester hour taken during your senior/final year to ensure maintained language proficiency.
- Biblical Hebrew: Successfully completed at least six semester hours of biblical Hebrew with at least one semester hour taken during your senior/final year to ensure maintained language proficiency.
Consult the registrar or your admission counselor regarding whether your courses fulfill the requirements for Old Testament, New Testament, Christian doctrine, Hebrew, and Greek.
Incoming students who plan to receive a waiver for any of the five ELCEs must matriculate within the academic year following the completion of their undergraduate studies.