Mission

HJI Mission Statement

HJI provides advanced academic and professional education for women and men who aspire to serve the wider society and world as transformational leaders in faith-based ministries or professional fields related to religion, peace, and public leadership.

Institutional Background

HJI is affiliated with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA, and serves students from a wide range of religious, ethnic, and national backgrounds. HJI was founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han in 1975 as the Unification Theological Seminary, dedicated to providing a broad, ecumenical theological education. The school served as an integral part of the Founders’ longstanding, faith-based ministry to promote interreligious and international peace. In 2023, the school was renamed as the HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership, underscoring the institution’s longstanding emphasis on peace and public service. The HJ in our name stands for hyo-jeong, a Korean word that refers to the virtuous practice of honoring God, humanity, and the environment.

Our Vision

HJI will emerge as a center of excellence in higher education.

Core values 

  • Hyo-jeong, a Korean term, is a virtue, similar to filial piety, that is expressed by reverence for God, humanity, and the environment.  
  • Peace is a goal toward which we strive, one characterized by harmony, mutual respect, mutual prosperity and cooperation.   
  • Public Service is practiced by living for the sake of others and, in the context of HJI, living for the sake of our students, our community and the wider world. 
  • Dialogue underscores the importance of respectful person-to-person engagement, listening and learning, growing and developing.

Strategic objectives from the 2025-2030 strategic plan

  1. Provide resources that equip students to become transformational leaders who serve the public good
  2. Expand the reputation of HJI as a center of innovative academic inquiry and thought leadership
  3. Expand and strengthen partnerships and institutional affiliations 
  4. Generate support that contributes to HJI’s mission, strategic plan, and financial health

Accreditation

HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership is chartered by the Regents of the State of New York. All its academic degree programs are registered by the New York State Education Department at the Office of College and University Evaluation, 89 Washington Ave, Room 960 EBA, Albany, NY 12234, Phone: (518) 474-1551:

  • Theological Professions – HEGIS 2301.00

Master of Arts in Religious Studies

Master of Divinity

Doctor of Ministry

Foundation Program Graduate Certificate

  • Humanities and Social Sciences – HEGIS 4903.00

Master of Arts in Peace Studies

HJ International is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) www.msche.org. HJ International’s accreditation status is Accreditation Reaffirmed. The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on June 27, 2024 was to reaffirm accreditation.

MSCHE is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) to conduct accreditation and pre-accreditation (candidacy status) activities for institutions of higher education, including distance education and correspondence education programs offered at those institutions, throughout the United States. USDE recognizes accrediting agencies deemed authorities on the quality of higher education. Under the Higher Education Act’s (HEA’s) federal student aid programs, accrediting agencies recognized by the United States Department of Education must meet the Department’s regulatory criteria. MSCHE is a Title IV gatekeeper and is a link to federal programs, and institutions access Title IV through MSCHE accreditation.

HJ International holds affiliate status with The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.