We are now accepting applications for summer 2025-2026. Applications are accepted year-round, and all students are encouraged to apply early. The summer 2025 application final deadline is October 1, 2024. Click here for the application.
Summer Study Abroad Program based in Florence, Italy.
The Master’s University study abroad program in Italy focuses to provide a unique, deeply biblical approach to the intellectual history grounded in the study of the European Renaissance and Reformation. Students will be immersed into the culture by staying in Rome, Venice, and Florence for four weeks on-site with two additional weeks of post-program work. During those six weeks, they will earn nine (9) undergraduate credits in a variety of courses while being immersed Italian culture and Renaissance History.
Applications for Summer 2025 & 2026 are now open. Final deadlines for Summer 2025 applications will be October 1, 2024. Students will pay a $50 non-refundable application fee. We recommend that students complete and submit their applications and recommendation letters as early as possible.
For each student interested in The Master’s University in Italy Program, we will require a completed application and letters of recommendation.
The modern world is the child of the Italian Renaissance. All modernist worldview issues were first fully formulated in the Renaissance, in both the sciences and the humanities. Florence, the home base of the program, is the cradle of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the modern world. It is the city of Dante, Petrarch, Giotto, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Galileo, Boccaccio, Cimabue, Brunelleschi and Donatello, the Medici banking family, Botticelli, Savonarola, Machiavelli, Rossini. And, of course, Amerigo Vespucci—for whom America was named. With all this in mind, we have created a program grounded in the exploration of the dual questions “quid est homo?” (“what is Man?”) asked by the Italian Renaissance Christian Humanist scholars, and the related biblical question “what is man that Thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8).
Approximate cost of the program is 12K for airfare, room and board, intercity travel to Venice, Rome and Cinque Terre, museum passes, and tuition for 9 units.
We will be living in a lovely Medieval/Renaissance period villa in Florence with trips to Rome, Venice, as well as extensive time spent in museums, palaces, classical-era ruins, Renaissance gardens, the Vatican museum and libraries, and the famous Mediterranean Coast.
Our summer semesters are designed to help students graduate on-time, or even early, which means that the GE courses we offer every summer will be determined by the group of students selected and the faculty members who will join the program. The typical student will take one-two general education courses and one-two Oxford-style tutorials. The academically intensive tutorials will have 2-5 students in socratic discussion—and in both the general education courses and the upper division classes focus will be an exploratory discussion of Man: his origin, creative nature, purpose and end. The following is a CURRENT list of course offerings:
For the most current course listings, please visit Prof. Esther Chua in the Department of Arts and Letters or email .
Applications for Summer 2025-2026 are being accepted. The final deadline for Summer 2025 applications will be October 1, 2024. Students will pay a $50 non-refundable application fee.
Refunds will be made for students who drop out of the program completely according to the following:
Prior to Jan. 31 | 100% |
---|---|
Prior to Feb. 28 | 75% |
Prior to Mar. 31 | 50% |
Prior to Apr. 30 | 25% |
After Apr. 30 | 0% |
Before going on the program, students will sign a MOU, acknowledging that they adhere to all travel, health, and conduct policies. This signature is required before going to TMU in Italy.
Likewise, students attending TMU in Italy will adhere to the Student Handbook.
Course selections for each summer will be determined by and designed for the students who have been accepted into the program. As in our program description, we will offer a range of courses that fulfill GE requirements as well as upper division credit.
For registration, students will meet with Professor Chua during the month of November to discuss and register for classes. For the most current course listings, please visit Professor Esther Chua in the Arts and Letters Department (School of Humanities building on North Campus) or email .
To drop or change classes, students should schedule an appointment to meet with Professor Chua. The Add/Drop period will end March 1st.
According to the TMU in Italy Application, students will mark certain medical conditions on the Application. Certain conditions, as guided by the Application, will require the student to consult with their physician as to the feasibility of participation. Those applicants who identify such conditions are required to provide a medical clearance (a doctor’s written permission) as a prerequisite to participation in the TMU in Italy program. The TMU in Italy program is physically demanding and may exacerbate pre-existing medical conditions.
When applying, students will sign a medical release, giving permission to the faculty to select a physician, to hospitalize, to secure proper treatment, to order injections, anesthesia, or surgery for the student in case of an emergency.
While student safety will be a high priority for the TMU Italy faculty, students should also be prepared to foster a culture of safety. Please refer to the student handbook for more student and faculty responsibilities. Also, students will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, which includes a statement regarding safe conduct.
Students should be aware that although traveling abroad and visiting other countries as a tourist is fun, Italy is a place where people live in. Certain cultural differences may seem strange and difficult to understand. Because the program is also an immersive cultural experience, students are expected to show a certain amount of flexibility and a strong sense of personal responsibility in their conduct with other students, tourists, and residents. Before the start of the program, students will be briefed on travel and safety procedures, which will help them navigate through the normal challenges of international travel.
We are now accepting applications for summer 2025-2026. Applications are accepted year-round, and all students are encouraged to apply early. The summer 2025 application final deadline is October 1, 2024. Click here for the application.
There is a $50 non-refundable fee that must be paid when applying.
When a student completes an application, he or she will undergo an interview process to determine if the student is a good fit for the rigorous academic nature of this program.
If you are not selected (or are unable to participate) and still have interest in participating the following summer, email Professor Chua to keep your file open for the fall. Make sure to also email Professor Chua if the passport or health insurance information from your application changes.
Yes. Students will be contacted if they are put on the waitlist.
No. The Master’s University is set up to only give financial aid for the fall and spring semester, there is no available financial aid for post-session programs and courses.
Students accepted into the program will need to register for classes by the end of November. Their bill will be mailed by November 20, the month after registration. After the bill is received, students will need to talk to Student Accounts to opt in to a payment plan: five payments between December or April or one payment in full due by December 10.
Cash or check payments may be mailed to:
21726 Placerita Canyon Road, Box 36
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
E-check payments can also be made online here.
The program is designed to help students graduate on-time and, if planned in advance, to graduate early. Students will meet with Professor Chua and together they will decide which classes will work best for each individual student.
Students must take 9 units.
Most meals are provided in the program cost. However, students will have free time to eat on their own. To cover this, we recommend that students bring their own spending money. As an estimate, students can budget $20-25 per week for any extra meals, desserts, gelato runs and coffee breaks that they may want.
Yes. Most restaurant workers can understand English and will be able to accommodate common dietary restrictions. Students should list uncommon restrictions upon application and a special card with instructions on how to accommodate the student’s restriction will be made in Italian for the student to give to restaurant workers when ordering. For dietary preferences and allergies, please communicate and coordinate with Prof. Chua regarding the practicalities of travel.
Students with allergies should bring the proper medication (over the counter or prescribed) to combat the general summer allergies or reactions they might have in Italy. Please consult your doctor before taking any medication.
As a home-base, students will be living in a Medieval/Renaissance period villa in the Florence country-side. During the program students will take trips to other cities such as Rome and Venice, as schedules/opportunity permits. There, the students will be staying in apartments together.
Throughout the Italy program students will be exposed to many forms of art, including representations of the human form. Sometimes, this includes nudity. We understand that in humans’ fallen state, nudity is shameful and can sear a Christian’s conscience. We don’t want to hurt any student’s conscience and if a student thinks he or she will be tempted by the nudity represented in the art all over Italy, then the student should not participate in TMU in Italy. If the student is not sure, the student can meet with Professors Chua and Horner.
Explore life as a Mustang by learning about TMU chapel, residence life and athletics.
The Master’s University and Seminary admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
21726 Placerita Canyon Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
1-800-568-6248
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