The STB programme for clerical students covers four years during which a student is expected to obtain 204 credits: 171 credits for Basic Courses, 18 credits for Optional Courses and 15 credits for Pastoral Courses. A credit is a unit of 25 study hours, inclusive of class-periods and personal/library work proposed by the professor.

The Basic Courses are obligatory, and any exemption from them needs the written permission of the Dean, a copy of which is to be submitted to the Registrar.

A student is expected to complete 189 credits in three years and pass in the comprehensive examination to obtain a Baccalaureus in Theology. For the Pastoral Courses in the fourth year (15 credits), a separate Mark Sheet will be issued.

Students who are not candidates for the priesthood have to complete only 189 credits: 171 credits for Basic Courses and 18 credits for Optional Courses

All baccalaureate students are obliged to acquire 18 credits from the Optional Courses. A student must reasonably space out the Optional Courses over a period of three years: from the beginning of the second semester of the first year theology till the end of the third year. First Year STB students are not allowed to take Optional Courses in the first semester. However, they may attend one of the Classical Language courses (Hebrew, Greek, Latin) from the beginning of the first year of theology.

Four credits of the Basics are assigned to a STB essay, written according to the guidelines provided. Its Guide shall be a member of the theology teaching staff at JD. If anyone else is to be chosen, even from among the Emeriti, the permission of the Dean is required. The essay is to be submitted by the date indicated in the Calendar.

Choice of Optionals

Students wishing to enrol themselves for an Optional Course must register their names in prescribed forms within the stipulated time

Optional Courses have to be chosen and finalized at the beginning of the academic year.
A student can drop or change a chosen Optional Course only for serious reasons, and only after obtaining prior permission from the Dean, a copy of which is to be submitted to the Registrar. A fine of Rs. 50/- will be charged for a new registration.

Evaluation of Courses

All courses will be evaluated with marks.

Both Basic and Optional Courses will be evaluated through mid-semester examinations as well as semester examinations on the dates indicated in the Handbook and Calendar. Examinations may be oral, written or through an assignment. Study Days may not be used for anticipating examinations. All the examinations will be arranged and announced by the Controller of Examinations.

Students who have failed in an examination are obliged to repeat the examination and pass in it. The re-examination dates are mentioned in the Handbook and Calendar.

All outstanding examinations of the previous year must be completed by the end of June. Failure in this respect may result in a student being debarred from continuing studies in the new academic year. Baccalaureus students who register five failures in a year, or nine failures (including failures in Optionals and re-exams) in the course of the degree programme will be transferred to the Diploma Course.

The STB comprehensive examinations are held on the dates mentioned in the Handbook and Calendar.

Re-exam Fees for the semester exam is Rs. 100/-

Those who wish to take the STB comprehensive examination by defending a comprehensive paper written under an approved guide must get prior written approval from the Dean. The Dean must approve the topic of the paper, the provisional outline of the paper with the relevant bibliography and the Guide under whom it is to be written. The paper is to be submitted to the Dean at least three weeks before the comprehensive examination.