Anderson University has renamed its ministry graduate school the Clamp Divinity School. The name change coincides with the launch of a master of divinity degree at the South Carolina Baptist-affiliated school.

The master of divinity is the standard theological degree offered by most seminaries and divinity schools. Anderson will begin offering the M.Div. degree this fall in addition to its existing ministry degrees.

The M.Div. will be offered as a traditional three-year degree or as part of a blended track that allows students to earn both a B.A. and an M.Div. in as little as five years. The M.Div. program offerings will commence in the fall of 2014 with the approval of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Clamp Divinity School will provide “practical training in ministry for those who will lead our churches in the future,” said AU president Evans Whitaker. The university’s divinity school will continue to offer existing ministry-training programs, including the master of ministry and doctor of ministry tracks.

The divinity school bears the name of David T. Clamp, whose $8 million estate gift in 2008 was the largest gift in the school’s 103-year history. The gift funded the creation of the Clamp Graduate School of Christian Ministry, which now becomes the Clamp Divinity School.