Top 10 Christian Colleges and Universities in the U.S.
Todays' post comes from Marcia Colgar, who created the website www.onlinechristiancolleges.com. She asked if I would host a post for her and I was happy to oblige. I hope that you might find this list helpful for yourself or others. I cannot comment on the list from personal knowledge, except to say that I was surprised to discover that George Fox University is no longer affiliated with Quakers- seeing as how Quakers were "founded" by Mr. Fox. It's an odd world, huh? I''ll see you all tomorrow! ~ Carl
The rankings in this list are based on Forbes 2010-2011 list of “America’s Best Colleges.” The rankings are decided by the outputs of a student education, such as whether students liked their courses, were successful after graduation, graduated in 4 years and without a lot of debt. These are the top 10 Christian-affiliated colleges from that list.
1. Wheaton College – Wheaton, IL
Wheaton is an evangelical Protestant private liberal arts college. It has about 2,400 undergraduate students each year and offers about 40 majors in various disciplines. It has one of the highest numbers of graduates who go on to earn PhDs and consistently ranks highly among the best liberal arts colleges. TIME magazine noted Wheaton for its “twin traditions of quality academics and deep faith.” Billy Graham is a notable alumnus.
2. Westmont College – Santa Barbara, CA
Westmont is a nondenominational Christian liberal arts college with about 1,300 students. They emphasize students’ intellectual, social, and spiritual growth and promote residential life. The college offers 26 majors as well as off-campus study and ministry programs.
3. George Fox University – Newberg, OR
Founded as a school for Quakers, George Fox is now a nondenominational private university. In addition to undergraduate programs, the university offers master’s and doctoral degrees in various fields such as ministry, business, counseling, and education.
4. Pepperdine University – Malibu, CA
Pepperdine is a private university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located on several ridges that overlook the Pacific Ocean. Undergraduates attend Seaver College, which offers a liberal arts education. There are also graduate schools in law, business, education, and public policy. The school has also been noted for its conservative atmosphere.
5. Gordon College – Wenham, MA
Gordon is a private liberal arts college with a nondenominational affiliation, although the student body is largely evangelical Protestant. There are about 1,600 students each year, most of whom are undergraduates. Graduate degrees in education and music are also available. Students who attend the college must be professed Christians and faculty must sign a statement of faith.
6. Covenant College – Lookout Mountain, GA
Covenant is a Presbyterian-affiliated private liberal arts college. Its campus is perched on top of a mountain that offers lovely views of the Smoky Mountains. There are about 1000 undergraduate students each year. It also features the Chalmers Center for Economic and Community Development, which offers programs promoting development in urban areas.
7. Whitworth University – Spokane, WA
Whitworth is another private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian church. It has about 2,600 students and 55 undergraduate programs. Whitworth students are particularly noted for their love of Frisbee. Unlike many Christian college, Whitworth lets students in each dorm set their own rules regarding dorm life, such as whether other students can enter and when quiet hours will be.
8. Houghton College – Houghton, NY
Houghton is a private liberal arts college associated with the Wesleyan Church. It has both 2-year and 4-year degree programs, along with two graduate degrees in music. The college offers a distinctive First-Year Honors program with three tracks: Contemporary Contexts, East Meets West, and Science.
9. Oklahoma Baptist University – Shawnee, OK
OBU is a Southern Baptist liberal arts university. It has 84 areas of study in five different academic schools, as well as over 150 campus organizations. It is consistently ranked among the best colleges in its region.
10. College of the Ozarks – Point Lookout, MO
The College of the Ozarks is a private liberal arts college with about 1600 students. The College does not charge tuition for full-time students due to many donations and an extensive student work program. The college places emphasis on character education and requires students to work 15 hours each week as well as two 40-hour work weeks over break. Although this sounds rigorous, students can work in over 80 areas related to any field of study, providing valuable experience and the possibility for supplemental income.
Marcia Colgar created the website http://www.onlinechristiancolleges.com. She writes articles about faith-based education.
The problem with this list is the spiritual cultures at some of these colleges. I can't speak for all of them but I know a few who have unfortunately made the switch to valuing education at the cost of the spiritual depth. Who cares what percentage went on to get phd's, what percentage graduated closer to God than when they started?
ReplyDeleteAll these schools (except Whitworth) hail from the evangelical and fundamentalist wing of American Christianity. Seems surprising that no institutions representing Catholicism or mainline Protestantism show up on the list. So, the definition of "Christian" is shockingly narrow.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I know from personal experience that Oklahoma Baptist University is on the fast track to becoming a fundamentalist Bible academy - maybe even worse than Gordon before long. It's a shame that grieves my heart. Rather than going the way of Baylor, Stetson, Wake Forest, Mercer, Furman, etc. (who wisely altered the terms of their relationships with their Baptist state conventions), it looks like OBU is determined to fade into irrelevance as the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (through the trustees it elects and the administrators they hire) continues to trample all over academic freedom.
It's a shame what "Christian higher education" has become. I would actively advice all young people within my sphere of influence to avoid most of these places. The church used to give us the great universities. And when we discovered truths (in natural science, biblical scholarship, and other fields of study) that made classical orthodoxy and biblical literalism untenable, religious people just made their own little institutions to protect their beliefs by starting with the preferred answers and constructing elaborate systems to bolster them. So, instead of having (or even wanting) a faith that can withstand the most stringent intellectual scrutiny, they settle for whatever kind of cognitive dissonance and intellectual dishonesty is required to sustain their worldview and still give them the false aura of academic/institutional respectability. I think it's sad.
Sounds like there is a definite divide over what the purpose of a "Christian" college should be. I hope Marcia will weigh in with her opinion as well.
ReplyDeleteI am 195 days away from my degree at Southwest Baptist University, and I love this school! I have friends at many of these other schools, and they love THEIR schools. Every one has a preference; every one has an opinion of what makes their higher education the "best." I'd put SBU on this list, but that's just me ;)
ReplyDelete