Private Christian College recommendations?????

[Dawn D]

New here and looking for some help! 

We are starting the process for college selection and really hoping for some help in narrowing down our selections to apply for Private Christian colleges that still have biblical foundation and truly care for the student and their walk with the Lord.  I know this is a tall order, that is why I am looking for some guidance.  Also, leaning towards liberal arts and degree in art or music.  THANK YOU for any thoughts you all can share!!  

[skctgbrlis]

Cedarville University is exactly what you describe. I’ll have a Freshman music major there next year, and already have a Computer Science major on campus. I also highly recommend their dual enrollment program. 

[Momof4sweetkids]

I started out at a Christian college and transferred to a state school because of finances. I think it can be confusing when peers are at a Christian college but not really living biblically. My DH went to a state school but lived at a Christian guys house (with like 60 guys) and found that to be a better experience. They had a church leading the house and mentoring the guys. If I could go back, I'd go that route. Where I'm at, most state schools have a few christian community houses near them

 

A friend is at Baylor right now and isn't getting the biblical teaching she hoped.

[forty-two]

My oldest is looking at one of our denomination's schools: Concordia Nebraska (we're LCMS Lutherans), to study church music.  Some of the Concordias have an iffy rep wrt being faithful, but Nebraska is still widely considered solid, and their church music program is excellent.  I've already talked to my dd about the likelihood that a decent chunk of her fellow students might not be concerned about faithful living, but there's still a solid core of students who care there. 

I know that a Christian college isn't a bulletproof method or anything, but my advice to others about religious schools has always been that you don't send your kid to a school if you are unwilling for them to adopt that school's beliefs.  Secular is just as much a belief system, and the corollary is to not send your kid to a secular school if you don't want them to become secular.  IDK what to do wrt my youngest, who wants to do engineering at our state school, other than getting plugged into a local church, local community of believers, is *vital*.  But, honestly, a good local church is still pretty vital even going to a Christian school.

[Dianthus]

Hillsdale College

Grove city College

New St. Andrews

New College Franklin

No experience, just some I've noticed when perusing schools.

[ScoutTN]

Echoing Hillsdale, Grove City, and Cedarville. Adding Union, Lee, and Samford. 
 

 

[Tree Frog]

Abilene Christian University is another possibility. 

[ScoutTN]

3 hours ago, Momof3sweetgirls said:

I started out at a Christian college and transferred to a state school because of finances. I think it can be confusing when peers are at a Christian college but not really living biblically. My DH went to a state school but lived at a Christian guys house (with like 60 guys) and found that to be a better experience. They had a church leading the house and mentoring the guys. If I could go back, I'd go that route. Where I'm at, most state schools have a few christian community houses near them

 

A friend is at Baylor right now and isn't getting the biblical teaching she hoped.

Baylor ceased to hold the line Biblically quite a while ago. 

[countrymum]

I went to Harding University in Arkansas for 2 years and loved it. I found the Christian groups on campus and loved the faculty and atmosphere. I stayed out of the social clubs....

I didn't expect everyone there to be a Christian. In fact it is not required. They do require RAs and faculty to be Christians though and have a lifestyle policy to sigh. They had curfew and no one out overnight without prior permission.

It was Church of Christ so no musical instruments. I am not Church of Christ but found many Christians there and specific church didn't really matter. In fact my 1st roommate was a Baptist from Panama....

[zibby3]

You have some good ideas here already. I have 3 teenagers including 1 college freshman this year We have been doing similar research over the last couple of years. 

My daughter is at Lipscomb University in Nashville, so that's the one I am most familiar with right now. It is affiliated with Churches of Christ, which was not familiar to us until we looked into the school. It is similar to what countrymum described about Harding, except that musical instruments are included. The students come from many different denominations. I would say the professors and staff really care about students and their faith. There are great supports for students. 

Lipscomb has solid art and music programs. We went to an information session over Zoom about the art program and I liked it a lot. I like that they teach students the practical business side of art as well, because that doesn't often come naturally to artists.

The music program looks to be top notch! I just saw today that the gospel choir released a new single. They also put on a Christmas concert with Amy Grant every year, and I saw a couple weeks ago that they had Drew Holcomb visiting a class. You should look at the faculty biographies. Nashville is definitely a great place to be for a music student. 

Others you might want to look at: Grove City, Cedarville, Hillsdale, Houghton, Wheaton (IL), Liberty, Covenant

 

 

 

 

[Renai]

I attended Howard Payne University, but that was 20 years ago. The faculty were approachable (I remember us having a tea at one faculty member's house once), students were in involved in various social projects, we participated in a Walk for Christ (or something like that) when I was there for the year. They seem to still hold to Christian core values and have a music program. 

[goldenecho]

I went to California Baptist College back when it was a college, not a University.  That was over 20 years ago though...a lot could have changed.   But there are at least some staff there that were there when I went to school.

And it was like that...definitely a place that nurtured your faith.

[Dianthus]

Which Christian colleges are good for sciences? That seems more difficult as most are liberal arts programs. Grove City appeared to have more science programs when I was investigating, but any other recommendations? 

[Shelydon]

20 hours ago, Renai said:

I attended Howard Payne University, but that was 20 years ago. The faculty were approachable (I remember us having a tea at one faculty member's house once), students were in involved in various social projects, we participated in a Walk for Christ (or something like that) when I was there for the year. They seem to still hold to Christian core values and have a music program. 

One of my kids looked here.  It is a very small school if that is what OP is looking for.

[Shelydon]

11 hours ago, Dianthus said:

Which Christian colleges are good for sciences? That seems more difficult as most are liberal arts programs. Grove City appeared to have more science programs when I was investigating, but any other recommendations? 

Abilene Christian had a decent biology program when we looked there a few years ago.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

The sciences are strong at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. 

[Lecka]

Locally, nearby schools are Randall University and Oklahoma Baptist University.  For students going a little father away, Harding is very popular, as is Liberty University.  I have also heard good things about York in Nebraska.  
 

I have also heard good things about ACU (Abilene Christian) and Howard Payne, I think both are in Abilene, Texas.  Locally I don’t think people go there because it’s a long drive.  But I have met people who attended there and moved into this area.  
 

If you aren’t near my location — I would say Harding is a school that draws students from a wider area.  I live far from Liberty now, but when I lived about 8 hours away it was a popular choice and I heard good things about it.  

[Dmmetler]

16 hours ago, Dianthus said:

Which Christian colleges are good for sciences? That seems more difficult as most are liberal arts programs. Grove City appeared to have more science programs when I was investigating, but any other recommendations? 

I can speak highly of the bio department at Williams Baptist in Arkansas. The department head and her husband (who is also a bio professor) have been L's biology and herpetology mentors for years. They particularly specialize in kids going into nursing or med school/allied health, but they've had quite a few take research paths as well. 

[ScoutTN]

@Dianthus What kind of science?

We know families whose science oriented kids have been happy and Cedarville and at Lipscomb. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Tree Frog]

My dd graduated from ACU with a bio chem degree. They have a pretty solid science dept and plenty of research opportunities. They were building another building to house a lab for some very large equipment, but I don't remember the specific equipment. There were also opportunities for students to publish their research and nearly 100% of the students taking pre health were accepted into either need school or dental school. I don't know what the current stats for that are now. 

They used to require chapel time most days. 

[Dianthus]

Nm

Edited February 6, 2023 by Dianthus

[ScoutTN]

The Union University engineering program is ABET accredited.

Their bio/life sciences/premed/allied health areas are also good.

[ScoutTN]

@Dianthus
 

Anderson, BJU, Calvin, Cedarville, Geneva, Grove City, Hope, John Brown, LeTourneau, Liberty, Lipscomb, Messiah, Milligan, Pensacola Christian, Taylor, and Union all show up on the B.S. program ABET accreditation list. I am sure I missed some others whose names I didn’t recognize as Christian schools. Loads of Catholic schools on the list too, though I assumed you wanted evangelical Protestant. They have lots of filters to make a search more specific, by program, location etc. 

 

Covenant College does a 3/2 program where students do 3 years there then, transfer to an E-school to finish. They have a good relationship with Georgia Tech. We know a student who did that and loved it. Also some who finished at TN/GA/AL/NC public U’s and    had good experiences. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by ScoutTN

[ScoutTN]

15 hours ago, Dianthus said:

 

Just not many B.S. programs overall.

?
 

B.S. in what specifically? ALL the schools we have even remotely considered (though my Dd is not a science girl and will do the minimum only!)  have B.S. programs is all basic sciences (Bio/Chem/Physics), often/usually with several related majors available for each of those. Plus math, nursing, psych, various allied health disciplines, business fields and econ, technology fields including those that blend in design elements. Some have architecture and/or engineering. 
 

Granted some schools have more depth, research opportunities, resources etc. and none will likely be able to duplicate the number snd depth of opportunities available at large research U’s with PhD programs and gobs of research funding. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Xahm]

I want to say this carefully to avoid accidental offense, but when you say you want a Christian College with a strong science program, you and your child may need to think through your thoughts on evolution. I went to a strongly Christian school where the Christian biology professors taught evolution. Some students found this anathema and had such a strong moral block they found themselves unable to learn/see other perspectives. Other students were able to respectfully talk with the professors and make their own decisions about how to reconcile differences between a literal interpretation of the Bible and mainstream science. Some of them changed what they thought before, others stayed the same, but each grew in spiritual maturity due to the conversations. Other Christian schools do not allow evolution to be taught, which might be unpleasantly surprising if you are from a background in which Christmas faith and mainstream science are reconciled.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Xahm
Typo

[mom31257]

Lee University in TN has excellent programs throughout the school. 

[Renai]

On 1/28/2023 at 3:05 PM, Lecka said:

Locally, nearby schools are Randall University and Oklahoma Baptist University.  For students going a little father away, Harding is very popular, as is Liberty University.  I have also heard good things about York in Nebraska.  
 

I have also heard good things about ACU (Abilene Christian) and Howard Payne, I think both are in Abilene, Texas.  Locally I don’t think people go there because it’s a long drive.  But I have met people who attended there and moved into this area.  
 

If you aren’t near my location — I would say Harding is a school that draws students from a wider area.  I live far from Liberty now, but when I lived about 8 hours away it was a popular choice and I heard good things about it.  

Howard Payne U is in Brownwood, TX (about 1.5 hours south).

[Lecka]

Sorry, I did not realize that!

[ByGrace3]

Finding a truly grounded Christian University is a tall order these days. They exist but are far and few between.  A few on our short lists: Blue Mountain Christian University (MS), Union University (TN), Grove City (PA), Cedarville (OH), Southeastern (FL)

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

Houghton College is solidly Christian and has strong sciences with a good medical school acceptance track record.

Just be aware that the academics are not for the faint of heart, and it is truly in the middle of nowhere.

[EmilyGF]

9 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Houghton College is solidly Christian and has strong sciences with a good medical school acceptance track record.

Just be aware that the academics are not for the faint of heart, and it is truly in the middle of nowhere.

I guy I went to Caltech with is a biology prof at Houghton. 🙂

[importswim]

On 1/28/2023 at 12:09 AM, Dianthus said:

Which Christian colleges are good for sciences? That seems more difficult as most are liberal arts programs. Grove City appeared to have more science programs when I was investigating, but any other recommendations? 

 

On 1/28/2023 at 11:21 PM, Dianthus said:

Dd has talked about med school, though I'm not super keen for her. I did see that grove city seems to have a successful premed program.

Ds is likely going engineering. Not many Christian colleges are abet accredited.

Just not many B.S. programs overall.

My DH went to Letourneau (which is abet accredited in Engineering). He had a fantastic experience.

[freesia]

15 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Houghton College is solidly Christian and has strong sciences with a good medical school acceptance track record.

Just be aware that the academics are not for the faint of heart, and it is truly in the middle of nowhere.

 

5 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

I guy I went to Caltech with is a biology prof at Houghton. 🙂

It’s now Houghton University. Ds works in the tech department there. He also graduated from there. He had a great experience. 

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

53 minutes ago, freesia said:

 

It’s now Houghton University. Ds works in the tech department there. He also graduated from there. He had a great experience. 

I forgot they changed their name but yes they’re a university now.  It’s my alma mater and I still live only about 90 minutes away. My 10 year old already has her heart set on going there.

[Lucy the Valiant]

I know a couple of lovely boardie-children at Bob Jones University in SC, in their ABET engineering programs. Both reporting good experience there. And I know a mid-40's-surgeon who graduated from there years ago with no issues getting into med school and beyond.

[Homeschoolmom3]

I am a Liberty U grad, my husband, and my oldest son.  I know it has gotten big and I don't agree with all the changes over the years and some of the things that has gone on, but the teachers that my son had are still stellar and he made so many good connections and had such great leadership.  His math professor allows his students to have a ministry time on his farm off campus twice a month for good fellowship singing and preaching.  The students love him and I am so thankful of his presence in my son's life during those trying years they are trying to work out ideas and their place.  My son met his wife there too and we couldn't be more pleased and so happy for them.  LU has great scholarships and since my oldest was a national merit (not a finalist) he got all tuition paid for and if he had been a finalist it would have been totally free! 

I also have heard of good things about Cedarville, I have a good friend who has her two kids there and really like it, it is just too pricey for us!