Study Shows Small Christian Colleges Becoming More Popular Choice
by Jim Brown
January 11, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Statistics show a growing number of students are opting to attend small Christian colleges and universities instead of large public institutions. Enrollment at the more than 100 evangelical schools belonging to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) has increased 71 percent since 1990, rising from 135,000 to 230,000. During that same time frame, public college enrollment increased by only 13 percent.
Council spokesman Nate Mouttet says students are looking for what he calls "a spiritual and academic greenhouse" that embraces their faith and offers it a place to grow. Referring to a study conducted by the University of California in Los Angeles, he notes that interest in spirituality in higher education is stronger than it has ever been.
According to the study, college students cite several reasons for this interest, Mouttet points out. Among them, he says, are "the quality of the campuses, this improving quality over the years; an area that we see as academic freedom; and then the faith, the unique aspect that our campuses embrace Christian faith. And that is something that's also being noted in general in higher education as something that's being sought after by students."
The CCCU spokesman says Christian students want to be in schools that encourage them along their path toward spiritual maturity and that allow them to look at life from a large perspective, an objective that can take many different forms for different students.
For instance, he explains, "That might mean that they can honestly challenge themselves to think about evolution in a science classroom and honestly challenge themselves to think about foreign affairs or world policy from several different perspectives rather than just kind of having a 'group-think' or [having to concede regarding certain ideas that] this is the way it is, and if you don't agree with it you're not academically sound or up to snuff."
Mouttet notes that in order to become a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, schools must be intentional about making the connection between faith and learning, and they must have hiring practices that require their faculty and staff to be Christians.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
