Why Go to a Christian College?

Thirty colleges in 30 years…
In preparing to write this article, I realized that was the number of Christian colleges and universities I had visited over the years. In most every case, I have had the opportunity to become acquainted with their presidents, and oftentimes their previous presidents as well. In the following paragraphs, I will summarize what I have observed on these campuses through the years.

You may think this article is simply an academic exercise for a college president to justify his vocation. And to a degree, that may be true. But for me, it is much more than that. You see, I have a nineteen-year-old daughter who just wrestled through her own decision about what college to attend last fall. My son is a senior in high school this year and contemplating the same decision. Neither one is clear about what they want to do for their life vocations.

So, answering this question is not simply an academic exercise for me. I’ve got skin in the game. Literally.

Why go to Christian college?

First of all, most of these colleges are incredibly good educational values. While many of America’s public schools (elementary through high school) have struggled in recent decades to keep up with public school progress in other countries, the American system of higher education is the envy of the world. Our Christian colleges share in that distinction. In fact, no other country is even a close second in the quality and quantity of options available to the student seeking a Christian college education.

Last fall, my kids and I researched the cost of private and public colleges throughout our region to determine how Christian colleges stack up against other institutions. The rapid increase of costs at public universities has been well covered in the news media over the last few years. Even then, we were surprised to discover that a year at a Christian college (tuition, books, room and board, fees, etc.) was only a few hundred dollars more than the published costs for a year at a public university.

Across the board, Christian colleges offer strong faculty-student ratios, small class sizes, and reasonable prices. Dollar for dollar, Christian colleges offer some of the best values in a nation full of great institutions of higher education. If a Christian college offers the course of study you are seeking, you will have a hard time finding a better value.

Secondly, while academic strength and educational value are great attributes of Christian colleges, they are not what set them apart. What sets them apart is spiritual intensity.

Christian college employees actively partner with God for the good and growth of the student. This takes place through an abundance of forms:

• Spiritual direction
• Accountability groups
• Small group Bible studies
• Weekly chapel services
• Prayer times with fellow students
• Prayer times with faculty and staff
• Structured mentoring relationships
• Focused development of spiritual disciplines
• Directed times of Christian service
• Local church involvement

The details of this list could go on to fill pages. The important thing is that the focus on the spiritual out-of-classroom experience is every bit as intense as the intellectual in-classroom experience.

When it comes to spiritual growth and maturation, do we always get it right? No. On the other hand, most public and private colleges don’t “get it” at all. In fact, many could be charged with practicing a not-so-subtle form of spiritual de-formation.

The Oxford University Press describes their book “The American University in a Postsecular Age” (edited by Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen) with the following words:

For much of the 20th century, and especially since WW II, it was assumed that the university was and ought to be a secular institution. The goal of college or university education was to provide students with scholarly ways of understanding the world and themselves that required no appeal to God, religion, or the sacred. As a result, American higher education came to be seen as not only secular itself, but as a secularizing force within society as a whole, promoting non-religious ways of thinking and living. A common assumption was that the need for faith would slowly evaporate as humanity more fully understood the world through empirical scientific research. (emphasis added by author of this article)

This humanistic assault on all things religious has taken a great toll on our country. And it continues today. Not to mention the debauched social environment of many of our most popular universities. As the father of one college student and a soon-to-be college student, these issues deeply concern me.

To my knowledge, there is no equivalent offered anywhere that matches the advanced course of Biblical studies offered at Christian colleges. Nor is there an equivalent for the general studies (history, English literature, biology, etc) taught within a Biblical framework and fostering a Christian worldview. Add to that the “vocational” education provided for those who plan to work in church leadership, and you will see that there is no parallel.

A brief survey of the leadership landscape in church-work today reveals an overwhelming majority of senior pastors and missionaries have formal Biblical higher education under their belts. Now, I don’t mean to confuse causation with correlation. Many of these church leaders already intended to enter church leadership before they chose which college to attend. But many also first contemplated this vocational calling while pursuing other studies at Christian colleges.

Christian colleges offer great educational value combined with a powerful atmosphere for spiritual transformation. The result is good for the student, beneficial to the church, and vital in advancing God’s Kingdom.

Instead of asking yourself, “Why go to a Christian college?” Maybe you should ask yourself, “Why not go to a Christian College?” Why not “study to show yourself approved...” in one of the most focused settings to do so? Why not learn the tools of deeper Biblical study? Why not give a few years to study eternal matters before launching a career?

Editorial is provided by Dusty Rubeck, President, Dallas Christian College