What to Consider When Choosing a Christian College
When deciding which Christian college is the best choice for you, some of the things to consider will be the same as any other college-bound student. You will want to take into account factors such as school size, reputation, degree programs, student satisfaction, class size and cost. But if you also wish to study in a Christian college where you feel your beliefs and faith will be supported and encouraged, you need to go beyond those traditional considerations when narrowing down which schools you want to visit.
Accreditation
Though the items in this list are not ranked in any particular order, “accreditation” was included first because it trumps all else. If the Christian college you are considering is not accredited by a highly-respected academic agency, you may want to consider removing it from your list. This may sound harsh, but if a college or university isn’t accredited, that often means that their programs, curriculum, faculty, etc. simply could not meet the basic standards required. Don’t waste your time, energy and money at any college or university that isn’t accredited.
Church affiliation
While many Christian colleges and universities are nondenominational, some are not. If it is important to you, you may wish to search for and look at colleges that share your denominational belief system. This might be a good way to narrow the field of colleges if it is an important aspect of what you are looking for in a Christian college.
National ranking
Each year, the Princeton Review, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes and others rank colleges and university by differing standards. Since these usually include factors like student satisfaction, faculty engagement and curriculum quality, it is a good idea to see where your schools of interest fall on these rankings. Keep in mind that many good Christian colleges don’t make the rankings simply because they are too small to get noticed. If you are looking for a small college, seek out other ways of finding out how your top schools rank.
Educational approach or methodology
By the time you get serious about looking at colleges, you probably know if you plan to go into the ministry services or not. If so, a Bible college or seminary will possibly be where you end up. If you feel led to attend a Christian college that offers a strong moral and religious support while gaining a degree in a secular discipline, you will want to look for very different things in a college. Make sure you understand exactly what the educational focus is for each of the schools you are looking at.
While these topics should be an important part of the narrowing-down process, it is impossible for an agency or entity to determine the quality of the Christian devotion and fervor that is truly part of each college or university. It is recommended that after using the standards above to narrow down the best Christian colleges for you, that you visit each campus. Talk to students and faculty. Get a feel for the community. Nothing can take the place of being in an environment to help you decide which college is the best fit.
Jacqueline Myers is a long-time college English professor who also provides expert tips, tricks & techniques for successful college writing and research at Nitty-Gritty English.