The graduate option in Gender and Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary program for students who meet the degree requirements in Religious Studies who wish to focus on gender-related issues and feminist research and methodologies. Research focus is on a topic relating to gender issues or women's studies.

Entry into the doctoral program is limited to applicants who have earned an academic master's degree in religious studies or theology in a recognized graduate program, or those who have finished the course requirements of such a program with a minimum CGPA of 3.5/4.0.

Advanced Standing (Ph.D. 2) may be granted if the completed master's-level work including a thesis is in the same area as that of the intended doctoral specialization and involved not less than six (6) courses (18 credits).

It is recommended that a foreign language related to the area of study be included in the bachelor's or master's work preceding doctoral study.

Applicants for doctoral programs are requested to submit a substantial sample of their scholarly writing (15–20 pages) with their application. The application should specify one of the specializations listed in About Religious Studies.

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign language) minimum acceptable scores are:
IBT (Internet-Based Test): 86 overall, no less than 20 in each of the four component scores
PBT (Paper-Based Test): 567
IELTS (International English Language Testing System): a band score of 6.5 or greater (Academic module)