Posted on 08/12/2014 7:15:59 AM PDT by Academiadotorg
Religious colleges and universities, often derided by academic elites, got a surprising shout-out recently from an Ivy League insider. harvard hoodie
“Elite schools like to boast that they teach their students how to think, but all they mean is that they train them in the analytic and rhetorical skills that are necessary for success in business and the professions,” William Deresiewicz wrote in the July 21, 2014 issue of The New Republic. “Everything is technocratic—the development of expertise—and everything is ultimately justified in technocratic terms.”
“Religious colleges—even obscure, regional schools that no one has ever heard of on the coasts—often do a much better job in that respect. What an indictment of the Ivy League and its peers: that colleges four levels down on the academic totem pole, enrolling students whose SAT scores are hundreds of points lower than theirs, deliver a better education, in the highest sense of the word.” Deresiewicz taught English at Yale for an entire decade, from 1998 to 2008.
According to the Christian Universities Online’s newest college rankings, there are actually 50 top Christian universities and colleges in the U.S. The top five on the list are the following:
College of the Ozarks
The author, Michael Templeton, wrote: “Charging no tuition, that’s right, ZERO, will catch just about any shopping student or parent’s attention. College of the Ozarks (CO) is able to offer this unique opportunity because of its student work program and generous donations. CO is not called “Hard Work U” for nothing! The student work program requires full-time students to work 15 hours at their assigned campus work station.”
Gordon College
It is a small liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts and strives to “keep the torch…burning which works to integrate faith and learning and to train students to think holistically about the problems they will face in their professions.”
Goshen College
Established in 1894, this small liberal arts school in Goshen, Indiana integrates faith and learning. It is known for their Study-Service Term (SST), where “students work and study in another country for three months. This program has students learning the host country’s language, history and culture while participating in service work in a very wide range of occupations
Pepperdine University
Founded in 1937, the school’s 830 acre campus in Malibu, California overlooks the Pacific Ocean and has a commitment to the idea that“all would be done to the glory of God.
Baylor University
As Templeton wrote, “One of the first educational institutions west of the Mississippi River and the oldest continuously operating university in Texas, Baylor University (BU) has a tremendous history and reputation in academics, campus life and athletics. As rich and treasured as their history is, BU does not rely upon the past to earn it the no.5 position in our ranking. BU was ranked 75th out of 262 national universities in the 2014 “Best Colleges” ranking of the U.S. News & World Report.”
The criteria and the report itself were described by the author as a presentation attempting to “present a ranking of Christian colleges and universities taking into consideration a variety of quantitative values. We first began with regionally accredited schools that were also either accredited by TRACS or a member/affiliate of CCCU.” Templeton went on to say:
“Focusing on these accredited schools, the ranking was compiled considering which offered the highest degree of personal attention (student-to-faculty ratio), selectivity (acceptance rate), financial assistance (% receiving financial aid), and student satisfaction (retention and graduation rates). These factors were all given equal weight.
At the end of the day, we agree even using these quantitative and objective factors, there is always going to be a level of subjectivity when building a list entitled “the best.” We recognize there are many ways to rank schools, and this list represents only one way. With all ofthat disclaimer, we still believe this list serves as a good and useful starting point for students searching for a high quality Christian education.”
How does Hope College in Holland MI rank?
15 hours a week working on campus used to just be a warm-up gig for many college students largely paying their own way through school.
My son is already doing 15 and he hasn’t started his freshman year yet but it will remain the same.
And I’m sure it’s good for him, too!
Research Assistant looks better than Bagger anyway.
“Focusing on these accredited schools, the ranking was compiled considering which offered the highest degree of personal attention (student-to-faculty ratio), selectivity (acceptance rate), financial assistance (% receiving financial aid), and student satisfaction (retention and graduation rates). These factors were all given equal weight.
Apparently "teaches conservative Christian faith and values" wasn't on the list of factors being given equal weight.
Sure, that’s better for him still, but even a kid who’s only a bagger gets rewards in work beyond the appearance on a resume.
I like Bob Jones University, Greenville SC.
True but college kids don’t realize that their job at school has meaning. No matter your major, getting paid to do turf grass research looks a heck of a lot better than pushing pizza at Sbarro. Research jobs are generally given to people with higher GPA’s.
There are lots of grant funded research jobs on campus AND students can get federal work study money so it is free to the university. My son can make ~$2500 for little cost to the school.
Yeah—we’re paying for it! ;-)
I’m not sure that I would call Baylor Univerity a Christian college anymore. It was once a strong Southern Baptist college but moved away from that several years ago wanting to be more accepted by secular academia. The same thing is happening to Grand Canyon College.
Yeah, I’m giving him the business for being on Welfare. Ironic considering he was a cashier at a grocery store since he was 15 and complained about SNAP customers all the time.
It isn't rocket science. Diversity of opinion is permitted at these obscure, regional schools. It isn't tolerated at the Ivies, with the isolated exception of a few departments, mainly business and the hard sciences.
And NOT ONE of the top 50 Christian colleges is Catholic? I call BS.
I have to go back years to the last college student I met working their way through.
Yea I went to Baylor. It’s divided at best.
My physics professor, Dr. Packard, was a devout Christian and creationist.
He had tenure so the leftists professors couldn’t do anything about it.
He was a brilliant man, and I loved watching him just destroy the theory of evolution.
But campus was pretty well divided between Christians and humanists.
A lot depends on how “Christian” is defined. Bible believing? Scripture alone? Or scripture plus whatever?
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