As a Christian student seeking out a college education, you want the school you choose to help you live out your faith in an impactful way both while you’re in college and beyond. While you certainly aren’t required to attend a Christian school to meet those goals — in fact, there’s much value in exploring your faith within a secular environment — a quality Christian education can uniquely prepare you for a life and career of impact. Regardless of the vocation you choose, there are many ways a Christian education expands your horizons and gives you opportunities you might otherwise never experience.
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By providing access to professors who VKDUH \RXU IDLWK DQG GLVFXVV LW RSHQO\b While professors at secular universities are only permitted to address deeper moral and philosophical questions in a strictly academic VHQVH SULYDWH LQVWLWXWLRQV VSHFLĆźFDOO\ SULYDWH &KULVWLDQ LQVWLWXWLRQV DUH not restricted by law in this way, allowing professors to prompt students to consider more deeply how new ideas interact with their faith and ZRUOGYLHZ 4XHVWLRQV OLNH Ĺą+RZ LV WKLV QHZ FRQFHSW JRLQJ WR LQĆ˝XHQFH WKH way you live your life?â€? and “How do you reconcile this new information with your faith in Christ?â€? can help students dig deeper into their faith and wrestle with how to live it out in a world of gray areas.
Christian higher education therefore not only ties what you’re learning to the spiritual aspect of your life, but it also allows you to delve deeper into academic content. More than simply espousing shared values as an institution, many Christian colleges and universities require their community members to sign a statement of faith, meaning that students and professors will share at least some of the same religious and/or moral language, allowing them to talk more in depth about a certain lecture or discussion’s content. As professors in any academic discipline will tell you, having a shared language allows for deeper intellectual interrogation. Christian higher education therefore not only ties what you’re learning to the spiritual aspect of your life, but it also allows you to delve deeper into academic content.
Jason Stuckey, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental science DW 0XOWQRPDK 8QLYHUVLW\ NQRZV WKLV ĆźUVWKDQG After graduating from Stanford with his Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry in 2014, he spent almost three years as a postdoctoral scholar in the Delaware Environmental Institute at the University of Delaware. “When you’re teaching, your worldview comes out,â€? says Stuckey. “And it’s not a welcome thing to integrate faith and science; it’s not a popular position in academia. I wanted to do my work from my worldview. I also wanted to work someplace where teaching and mentoring were emphasized.â€?1 At Christian universities, professors like Stuckey are free to teach their discipline through the timeless lens of biblical wisdom and openly discuss Christianity with their students, giving those students an education WKDW EHQHĆźWV WKHLU VSLULWV DV ZHOO DV WKHLU PLQGV “There aren’t many jobs like this in the U.S.,â€? he observes. “I get to be myself. I get to be in a place where my worldview is not only accepted, but embraced.â€? This well-rounded approach to learning affords students rich and rewarding experiences that go beyond what they would receive in a secular XQLYHUVLW\ b Digging Deeper: Environmental Science Professor Finds Beauty in the Dirt, Multnomah University
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By empowering professors to serve as VSLULWXDO PHQWRUV DV ZHOO DV WHDFKHUVb Mentoring relationships are a distinct hallmark of Christian higher education. Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla., explores why in a recent article from Christianity Today.2 “It is no trivial thing to teach and mentor young people,” he says. “The model of faith professors offer can have a profound effect on how students conceive of themselves, their futures, and Christianity.”
“When students come to me needing support, my primary job is to communicate Christ’s love for them.” Preparing students for a life of impact includes showing them ZKDW LPSDFW ORRNV OLNH ƼUVWKDQG ,PSDFW ORRNV GLIIHUHQW IRU HYHU\ PHPEHU RI &KULVWŮV IDPLO\ ,W PLJKW PHDQ VWDUWLQJ D QRQSURƼW WKDW KHOSV KRPHOHVV youths in Guatemala. It might mean rehabilitating injured athletes in your home state. Or it might mean being a professor who instructs in his or her DUHD RI H[SHUWLVH ZKLOH UHƽHFWLQJ WKH JUHDWHVW 7HDFKHU RI DOO b 2
A Professor’s Perspective, Christianity Today
“When students come to me needing support, my primary job is to communicate Christ’s love for them,” says Noble. “This is part of the burden and privilege of Christian higher education. I have a job that allows me to mentor students and explicitly communicate the Gospel to them.” Professors who teach at Christian institutions — like Noble and Stuckey — are passionate about their role and truly appreciate their freedom to talk openly about their faith both in and outside of the classroom. The fact is, many of them could easily secure more lucrative jobs at secular universities, but they choose to stay at faith-based universities because they feel called to teach other Christians and serve God’s kingdom by equipping WKH QH[W JHQHUDWLRQ RI EHOLHYHUV IRU WKULYLQJ FDUHHUV DQG FRPSHOOLQJ LQƽXHQFH b “When students think of higher education as something more than career training or credentialing, they have the opportunity to grow as whole persons through mentorship,” Noble says. “This prepares them to impact others, just as they have been impacted.”
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By equipping students to dialogue respectfully in a post-Christian culture Now more than ever, our nation needs people who seek to join WRJHWKHU UDWKHU WKDQ SRODUL]H b President of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities &&&8 6KLUOH\ +RRJVWUD UHFHQWO\ VSRNH ZLWK &KULVWLDQLW\ 7RGD\3 about how GLIĆźFXOW LWĹŽV EHFRPH WR VHHN VROXWLRQV WR FXUUHQW LVVXHV VXFK DV UDFH UHOLJLRXV freedom, student loans, or freedom of speech. “Today, we are not as equipped to work with difference,â€? Hoogstra explains. “Sometimes we want to shut down difference. Sometimes we want WR GHPRQL]H GLIIHUHQFH Ųb In times when dialogue is a challenge, Christian colleges have done a good job of welcoming different viewpoints — even those they adamantly disagree with — and responding civilly to these perspectives, she says. “Just like we want the government to be committed to this freedom of speech and freedom of association for religious concepts, beliefs, and values, Christians have to be concerned about beliefs, values, and commitments they may not agree with either and model this sort of convicted civility,â€? says Hoogstra. “That makes America this great democracy that is still a beacon to the world.â€?
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How Christian Colleges Can Help Americans Talk to Each Other, Christianity Today
The idea of a “post-Christianâ€? culture is not simply conjecture. A recent Pew Research Center study4 discovered the Christian share of the American population fell from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent between 2007 and 2014. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who DUH UHOLJLRXVO\ XQDIĆźOLDWHG ĹŤ GHVFULELQJ WKHPVHOYHV DV DWKHLVW DJQRVWLF or “nothing in particularâ€? — jumped more than six points, from 16.1 percent WR SHUFHQW b Additional research conducted by Barna Group5 shows the percentage of Americans who qualify as “post-Christianâ€? rose by 7 percentage points, from 37% in 2013 to 44% in 2015. The report also acknowledged that across the United States, cities in every state are becoming more post-Christian — some at a faster rate than others.
Unlike the past when campuses protected students’ faith from outside tampering, Christian colleges now help them explore or even challenge their own beliefs. This new national landscape provides Christian colleges a unique opportunity to equip students for respectful dialogue and healthy conversations with people who believe differently than they do. Good communication is both an art and a discipline, and it’s essential that Christian students are able to speak clearly and engage in healthy dialogue without FDSLWXODWLRQ RU FRPSURPLVH RI FRUH &KULVWLDQ GRFWULQH b Stephen Mortland, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., told The New York Times6 that unlike the past when campuses protected students’ faith from outside tampering — often called the “Christian bubble� — Christian colleges now help them explore or even challenge their own beliefs. 4
America’s Changing Religious Landscape, Pew Research Center
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2015 Sees Sharp Rise in Post-Christian Population, Barna
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At Christian Colleges, a Collision of Gay Rights and Traditional Values, The New York Times
“This is not some Christian Disneyland,â€? Mortland said. The goal “is not to indoctrinate. I’m not afraid that God is not real.â€? Quality Christian colleges discuss everything from evolution to race relations to refugees to the role of women. Even within the context of the Christian faith, believers from various denominations and backgrounds wrestle with differing opinions concerning issues like these. But think how much more these students’ opinions may differ from their non-Christian peers, who will one day be their managers, colleagues, and even close friends RQFH WKH\ JUDGXDWH %HLQJ DEOH WR ĆźQG FRPPRQ JURXQG OLVWHQ ZHOO DQG KXPEO\ RIIHU XS WKHLU RZQ YLHZV LV D SULFHOHVV VNLOO WKDW ZLOO EHQHĆźW WKHP IRU WKH UHVW RI WKHLU OLYHV b “If we want our alums being the hands and feet of Jesus, we can’t have them scared to talk about the things that everyone is talking about,â€? Mary Hulst, pastor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., told The New York Times.7
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Ź 6WXGHQWV KDYH WR EH DEOH WR GHIHQG WKHLU ZRUOGYLHZ Ų KH VD\V Ź$QG it’s essential that they engage with the dominant worldviews. If you can’t discuss these things, and if you’re not engaging with other perspectives, then I don’t know how you can be a transforming force in the world.�8
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At Christian Colleges, a Collision of Gay Rights and Traditional Values, The New York Times
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Digging Deeper: Environmental Science Professor Finds Beauty in the Dirt, Multnomah University
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By preparing students to promote the common good A Christian education can be a transformational experience for the students who choose it, but the benefits stretch far beyond personal enrichment. A study recently published by CCCU9 found that LWV LQVWLWXWLRQV QDWLRQZLGH PDNH VLJQLƼFDQW FRQWULEXWLRQV WR VRFLHW\ DV a whole.
Many Christian universities require their students to participate in volunteer hours. CCCU students, for example, are more likely to participate in community service projects than their non-Christian peers. Approximately one in four college students across the U.S. volunteer, but more than one in three CCCU students participate in volunteer or community service programs while they’re enrolled. These students serve an average of 38 hours per year, exceeding the national average of 34 hours per year. Collectively, they perform an estimated 5.4 million community service hours per year. Many Christian universities require their students to participate in volunteer hours as part of a wholistic, socially minded education. This, in turn, influences how students think about serving their communities DQG SUHSDUHV WKHP WR LPSDFW PRUH SHRSOH DV WKH\ UHƽHFW &KULVWŮV OLJKW LQ their neighborhoods and workplaces. In addition to building up their local communities through service projects, students from CCCU institutions maintain a strong desire to SRVLWLYHO\ LQƽXHQFH VRFLHW\ HYHQ DIWHU WKH\ JUDGXDWH 7KH\ DUH WKUHH WLPHV more likely than their non-Christian peers to take jobs in human services, including counseling, mental health, and family and community services. 9
Economic Impact, CCCU
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By training students in virtues as well as facts (YHQ SURIHVVLRQDOV XQDIƼOLDWHG ZLWK &KULVWLDQ FROOHJHV DFNQRZOHGJH their unique value in training students beyond academics, including American social psychologist — and atheist — Jonathan Haidt. The professor of ethical leadership at New York University recently stated his thoughts on the matter at a speech for CCCU.10 “As far as I can tell, Christian colleges do a good job…training students not just in the facts, but in virtues,” he said. “You do a lot more for moral education than we do at secular universities, and a lot of that moral education is for humility, self-control, a sense of service, and serving others before yourself. Boy, are these virtues that we need more of in this country at this time.”
Christian colleges are committed to instilling the fruits of the Spirit in their students, and the payoff exceeds the investment. As he aptly articulates, a Christian university education focuses as much on formation as it does on information. It attempts to build your future character as much as your future career. This duality is simply not possible at state-run universities. Christian colleges are committed to instilling the fruits of the Spirit in their students, and the payoff exceeds the investment. This is because when you pay to attend a Christian college, you’re not just paying for a degree that ZLOO JHW \RX D MRE <RXŮUH LQYHVWLQJ LQ D SODFH WKDW WHDFKHV \RX KRZ WR OLYH ZHOO b
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Moral Psychology’s Role as an Aid Against Antagonism, CCCU
“It’s no secret that Christian colleges do things differently than their secular peers,” writes Laura Pappano in The New York Times.11 “There are behavior codes, required Bible study, Christian-infused FXUULFXOXPV WKLQN HQYLURQPHQWDO SURWHFWLRQ DV ŭFUHDWLRQ FDUHŮ DQG weekday chapel … their sweet spot of missions abroad and deep community service speak to a generation seeking not just a future paycheck but meaning and impact.” At a Christian college, your faith doesn’t have to be compartmentalized. Every day, rigorous academics are integrated with biblical insight. You’re free to explore your faith and learn how it interacts with your chosen career, and you’re surrounded by people who share your core beliefs, support you when you’re struggling, and encourage the unique talents with which God has blessed you. Such experiences are sure to prepare you well for an empowering perspective and a fulfilling purpose. A Christian education makes you stand out for all the right reasons. In an increasingly post-Christian world, you can be noticed for the clarity of your vision and the strength of your beliefs. You can emerge from college ZLWK D IDLWK WKDWŮV PRUH YLEUDQW DQG VROLGLƼHG WKDQ HYHU $QG \RX FDQ WUXO\ PDNH DQ LPSDFW ū ZKHUHYHU *RG OHDGV \RX b 11
At Christian Colleges, a Collision of Gay Rights and Traditional Values, The New York Times