Erskine,
Christian Colleges Booming
(From Erskine reports, an article in Christianity
Today by Patton Dodd in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, and others)
Erskine College has distinguished
itself in many ways, including being the oldest
four-year church-related college in South Carolina,
and one of the safest campuses in the nation,
according to FBI and law enforcement statistics. But
today, the Due West institution founded in the late
1830s is known as a national liberal arts college
(BA1), according to the Independent Carnegie
Foundation.
Also a member of the Council for Christian Colleges
and Universities (CCCU), Erskine is one of only five
schools in that organization to receive the Carnegie
BA1 ranking. Dedicated to Christian commitment and
excellence in learning, Erskine is the only school in
the South that has a BA1 national liberal arts
academic rating, and is a member of the CCCU.
That is what distinguishes Erskine today. The only
school in the South that is academically recognized
as a national liberal arts college, and is a member
of the CCCU.
Erskine's long-standing commitment to academic
excellence and Christian values has proven attractive
to undergraduate liberal arts students and graduate
seminary students in Due West, as the combined
enrollment at Erskine College and Seminary reached a
record 886 this fall.
Christian colleges nationwide are booming, as young
men and women and their parents who are looking for
the best college education possible are no longer
assuming that it can be obtained only at secular or
state-run universities.
But that was not true a decade ago. Then, many
Christian colleges and universities faced major
challenges as they tried to market their schools and
programs to Christian parents and their offspring,
whose perception was that a superior education was
provided only in the secular or state schools.
During the 1990s, Christian colleges experienced an
unprecedented boom in enrollment, and classrooms and
dorms are fuller today than they have ever been.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 5, 1999)
heralded the news in an article headlined
“Enrollments Surge at Christian Colleges.”
The article spelled out the undisputed facts about
Christian higher education’s stunning growth:
“From 1990 to 1996, undergraduate enrollment
increased by only 5 percent at private institutions,
and 4 percent at public colleges, compared with a 24
percent increase at the more than 90 U.S. evangelical
institutions that are members of the Council for
Christian Colleges and Universities.”
Erskine's enrollment growth, from 1990-99, has been
an even higher 27 percent.
The growth makes many Christian educators happy, in
part because increased student tuitions and fees can
be used to upgrade academic programs and help to
update and expand facilities.
During the 1990s, both Erskine College and Erskine
Theological Seminary have added more academic
programs than in all other years combined. There have
been more seminary graduates at Erskine in the 1990s
than in the previous 153 years combined. Erskine also
added an arts center and science building to its
campus during the 1990s, and completed major
renovation projects on all of its dorms.
But there is also a potential down side to the
current boom in Christian higher education. For one
thing, students who don’t apply early may find
their desired spots have gone to others. An added
concern for students with lower grade point averages
is that Christian colleges, many of which used to be
fairly easy to enter, are tightening their
requirements. In some cases, only the best students
with the highest grades can be assured of a spot.
For instance, at Erskine, students who are admitted,
on average, are in the top 25 percent of their class,
are enrolled in a rigorous college prep curriculum,
and have SAT scores that average 1100.
The CCCU reports that incoming students at Christian
colleges typically have better grades than students
at secular schools. In 1996, 34.7 percent of all
first-year students had an A average in high school,
while 47.3 percent of freshmen arriving at Christian
schools had A averages.
Representatives of Christian schools don’t see
things slowing down any time soon. Rather, for a
variety of reasons, strong, steady growth is
projected.
The growth of enrollment figures at Christian
colleges and universities isn’t simply an
isolated trend at a few institutions. In fact, most
schools are experiencing some growth, and many are
undergoing dramatic changes. Even though many schools
have been caught off guard by the degree of growth,
most believe that various factors were working in
their favor. Here are six of the major reasons for
this decade’s stunning growth that are cited by
most of those who are involved in Christian higher
education :
1. The K-through-12 revolution. Three to four decades
ago, if someone used the term religious schools, most
people would have assumed the discussion was about
Catholic parochial schools, which had more than 5
million students during their boom period in the
mid-sixties.
But during that tumultuous decade, a series of
controversial U.S. Supreme Court decisions on such
issues as school prayer and Bible reading made many
evangelicals feel that God had been kicked out of the
public schools. Their dissatisfaction led to a boom
in private evangelical schools.
Today there are millions of students in an estimated
10,000 Christian schools serving grades K-12, and
more than a million are home-schooled. It should come
as no surprise that thousands and thousands of
graduates from these increasingly popular
alternatives to public schools are heading off to
Christian colleges and universities.
2. Concerns about secular schools. Some of the recent
news coming out of secular colleges and universities
hasn’t been good news. In 1999, some schools
publicly faced up to the fact that many students were
regularly involved in binge drinking, and these
schools began programs to educate young people and
their parents about the potential dangers of alcohol.
Moreover, Christian parents have had many concerns
about secular colleges for years. They believe that
some schools are characterized by widespread cheating
on exams and papers, as well as an overemphasis on a
succession of short-lived scholarly trends that have
more to do with political correctness than higher
education.
There has also been concern about student housing. In
some schools, dormitories, and even bathrooms, are
coeducational, and some parents feel this puts undue
pressure on young people who desire to pursue moral
relationships with members of the opposite sex.
“People are reacting to what they’ve seen
on the news on a daily basis,” Buckley A. James,
dean of enrollment services at Palm Beach Atlantic
College in Florida, told the Chronicle of Higher
Education.
There is great variety in the ways Christian colleges
enforce moral codes. Erskine relies on students to
exercise ‘responsible freedom.’ No alcohol
is allowed on the Erskine campus.
3. Broader programs. Some people who may have
confused institutions known as Christian colleges
with those described as Bible colleges have been
amazed to see the diversity of programs offered by
Christian colleges. In addition to this growing
breadth and depth of available studies at individual
Christian schools, the 90-plus institutions that
belong to the CCCU provide even greater variety and
allow students to meet peers from other schools.
One popular offering is foreign studies programs
covering China, Russia, Latin America and the Middle
East. These help students learn language and history
before immersing themselves in the lives and cultures
of foreign lands.
4. Higher profile staff and faculty. Many Christian
colleges are making a concentrated effort to hire
professors and administrators with exceptionally
strong reputations. In recent years, five Christian
schools have hired new presidents whose past
accomplishments in education, ministry, and business
raise the standards of excellence for Christian
education.
5. Growing reputations. More and more Christian
colleges like Erskine are showing up in rankings of
colleges published by U.S. News & World Report
and the popular Peterson’s Guides.
Peterson’s, the nation’s largest
educational information company, also publishes a
guide to Christian colleges.
6. Greater academic excellence. In years past, some
Christian colleges were underfunded, and this lack of
financial resources resulted in everything from the
inability to hire top-notch faculty to perennial
challenges in facilities and programs. As a result,
some colleges received low grades for overall
academic quality.
But now, enrollment growth, as well as increasing
sophistication in fund raising, has helped many
Christian schools grow their coffers, and that
growing economic clout has resulted in improvements
in faculty, course offerings, facilities, and
extracurricular activities. According to the CCCU,
these changes have led to dramatically improved
satisfaction among students. Nationwide, schools use
the Student Satisfaction Inventory to measure how
they are doing. In general, Christian colleges score
higher on the inventory than do secular schools.
During the 1990s, Erskine's total endowment has more
than tripled to more than $36 million. The school's
annual funds campaign, the Living Endowment, set a
record of more than $700,000 last year, and is on
pace this year to surpass that mark.
Christianity was a major factor in the birth and
growth of many of America’s premier, pioneering
institutions of higher learning. Today, though, only
650 of AmericaÌs 3,500 colleges and universities
maintain some link to a specific Christian
denomination or religious tradition. Even at many of
these schools, that link is not evident in the way
classes are taught or campus life is lived.
Robert Andringa is president of the CCCU, which is
based in Washington, D.C. The council’s 90-plus
member institutions are specifically Christ-centered,
and both students and faculty are expected to apply
their faith to the subjects discussed in the
classroom. That is, the schools that are members of
the council must meet eight specific criteria having
to do with the theological commitment of their
institution, including the desire to integrate faith
into the curriculum, requirements that faculty
members have made a personal commitment to Christ,
policies concerning student life and hiring
practices, and accountability in fund-raising
practices.
Andringa has read dozens of stories about the growing
popularity of Christian higher education. He has been
interviewed for many of them. Several national media
stories have highlighted the tremendous enrollment
growth among the CCCU’s 94 member campuses, all
of them providing comprehensive curricula rooted in
the arts and sciences, he says.
“Each journalist has tried to highlight why
council member institutions experienced 24 percent
growth in undergraduate enrollment from 1990 to 1996,
while the average growth in all of private higher
education was only 5 percent. Most writers focused on
only one or two factors. The real story is more
complex.”
Andringa cites many of the factors described above,
but he also adds others:
-Spiritual hunger. There is a growing interest in
America for spiritual things.
-Excellence. Parents and students are looking for
places that take seriously academic excellence and
also respect the spiritual dimension of life.
-Holistic education. CCCU institutions offer a
unified approach to higher education, encompassing
intellectual, spiritual, and relational development.
These campuses strive to be communities of learning
where the integration of faith and scholarship is at
the heart of the curriculum. This is in stark
contrast to many campuses where biblical truth is
questioned or denied.
- Scholarship. Increasing numbers of bright Christian
scholars are choosing to teach at CCCU campuses.
- Committed faculty. More Christian colleges are
hiring faculty who are committed to teaching
undergraduate students rather than investing their
careers in research.
-Cost effectiveness. In a period when cost is a major
factor in college choice, the average CCCU-member
tuition is at least $3,000 less per year than the
national average at private colleges. And most
Christian campuses provide significant scholarship
aid.
- Faith. Not least of all, life on CCCU campuses is
based on the belief in a sovereign God whose love and
grace enrich community life in ways that respond to
our deepest needs.
Of course, as stated earlier, growing enrollments
mean that some students who apply for a spot in a
future freshman class may not get in.
“With more students applying, many of our
campuses can be more selective,Ó says Andriga. ÏThe
average high school grade point average of first-year
students is higher in CCCU schools than in other
private colleges.”
Andringa says, “Given the maturation of
Christian higher education in recent decades, church
leaders increasingly respect the unique contribution
of these campuses within the mosaic of higher
education.”
While professional viability is imperative, the truth
is that many entering freshman are less concerned
with their future prospects, which may seem to be far
off, than they are with the college experience
itself. Christian schools are acknowledging this
concern with an increasingly wide variety of
extra-curricular programs.
Many schools have extensive missions programs
offering students travel abroad and the opportunity
to share the gospel in all parts of the world.
Erskine students share their faith during summer
programs in China, Mongolia, Vietnam, and other
countries.
In addition to a worldwide missions focus, many
Christian colleges and universities offer a wide
range of local community service programs, including
ministry to the homeless, local youth, hospitals, and
in volunteer opportunities at nearby churches.
Erskine students have been involved in many of these
activities, and they were cited for their service
activities by former president of the American Red
Cross and former presidential candidate Elizabeth
Dole, who spoke at Erskine's graduation ceremony in
1999.
More and more schools are taking seriously the
importance of sports in the college experience.
Erskine is a member of the prestigious National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and offers 10
sports, five for men and five for women, competing in
the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference.
Intramural athletics are also growing in popularity,
and Christian colleges are paying more attention to
studentsÌ interest in competitive sports by offering
a wide range of men’s and women’s
intramural sports. At Erskine, students can choose
from intramural sports such as football, basketball
and softball.
With all that Christian education has to offer, the
only thing holding back some applicants is the cost.
Most of the time, students can save money by
attending a secular, state-funded school in their
home state where private tuition costs and
out-of-state fees have no bearing.
But Ron Blue, noted speaker and author of Master Your
Money, has pointed out in an article written for the
CCCU that “in general, a Christian college costs
less than the average private school, according to
statistics provided annually to the federal
government.”
In fact, The Annual Survey of Colleges of the College
Board (1998-99) quotes the average tuition at private
colleges at $14,508. While the average tuition at
CCCU-member schools is a lesser $11,463, a difference
of over $3,000. Erskine's tuition during that same
time frame was $13,944.
No matter where a student goes, however, the cost of
attending college, whether public or private, can be
intimidating. “Gone are the days when you could
realistically expect to totally ‘work your way'
through school,” says Blue. “Today, almost
everyone has to borrow at least a little money by the
time they finish their fourth year.”
With that in mind, students (and their parents) will
want to get the best return on their investment. And
Christian educators are convinced that a faith-based
education is a guarantee that college expenses will
be money well spent. In an article titled
“Principles for Financing a Christian College
Education,” Larry Burkett, founder of Christian
Financial Concepts, asks, “Who can put a price
tag on your young adult’s character being
influenced by a biblical worldview?”
Skeptics need only look as far as a list of Christian
college graduates to see the benefits of investing in
a Christian education. Billy Graham, Roger Cross
(Youth for Christ/USA president), and U.S. Sen. Dan
Coates (R-Ind.) all graduated from Christian schools.
The list continues to grow as graduates make their
mark on big business, the entertainment industry, and
the Internet.
But Christian colleges and universities are aware of
the financial strain of attending school, and they
are trying to do something about it. About two-thirds
of all students receive some form of financial aid.
Students who apply and are accepted early often have
the best chance for good financial aid packages.
These may consist of grants, loans, and work-study
programs. Also, Peterson’s Guide to Christian
Colleges and Universities points out that students
who attend Christian schools may be able to graduate
in less time than those at public universities,
meaning “fewer years of tuition, room and board,
and an earlier transition into the job market or
graduate studies.”
Also, the CCCU has initiated some financial
assistance programs to buffer the aid that is already
available. In addition to a tuition-waiver program
open to dependents of full-time faculty,
administration, and staff of schools in the
Coalition, a few scholarship programs—such as
the Carl F. H. Henry scholarship and the Harvey
Fellows Program—have been developed to assist
students.
Christian education is available to the willing. And
with the great advancements in all areas of
university life and education, the payoff will last
long after graduation.
