The Continuing Crisis in

Christian Higher Education

An Examination of the Ability of Christian
Colleges and Universities to Compete in
the Academic Marketplace and Impact the
Culture
 Faith and Learning Once
Connected

• European origins
• The American experience
•
 How the Divorce Happened

• The two spheres illusion

• Church outbid by secular donors
 The Great Mistake:
Education is Not a Commodity
• Christian education is not:
– mere niceness
– public education plus chapel
– best practices


• Christian education involves a relationship

between faith and learning

 The Buckley Example
• God and Man at Yale
controversy in 1951
• Yale defended itself
• Contrast Yale today.
No defense or
defensiveness at
being called
unChristian.
 The Secular Revolution
• Christian Smith’s thesis:
Secularists moved
American higher ed.
• The Carnegie professors
pension fund
example: Buying
churches away from
denominations
 The Heritage of Secularization

• Eviction
• Marginalization
• Lack of resources

 Surveying the Landscape:
Understanding the Levels of Capability in
American Higher Education and Where
Christian Institutions Fall on the Scale
 Levels of Universities

• Premier and Virtually Unlimited

• Premier, Comprehensive
• Comprehensive, National
• Premier Liberal Arts
• National Liberal Arts
• Regional, Master’s-Granting
 Premier, Virtually Unlimited
• Examples include Harvard ($35b),
Yale ($23b), Princeton ($16b),
MIT ($10b)
• Scholarships at will
• Elite student body
• Train Ph.D.’s and professionals in
large numbers
• Teaching load 2:1 or less
• Finest scholarly publications
–
 Premier, Comprehensive
• Examples include University of Chicago
($6.2b), Emory University ($5.6b),
Rice University ($4.7b)
• Broad scholarship funding
• Elite student body
• Train large numbers of Ph.D.’s and
professionals
• Teaching load 2:1 or less.
• Some scholarly publications are top
level
–
–
 Comprehensive, National
• Examples include Michigan State Univ.
($1.2b + state $)University of Florida
($1.2b + state $), University of
Delaware ($1.4b + state $), Baylor
Univ. ($1.0b).
• Some scholarship funding, often with
major state tuition subsidies if public.
• Competitive, large student body
• Train large numbers of Ph.D.’s and
professionals
• Teaching load 2:2
• Some scholarly publications are strong



 Premier Liberal Arts
• Examples include Williams College
($1.9b), Grinnell College ($1.7b),
Amherst College ($1.7b).
• Heavy Scholarships (replace loans
with grants)
• Elite student body
• Wide range of undergraduate
programs, well-funded
• Teaching load 2:1
• Pipeline to the Premier, Unlimiteds
 National Liberal Arts
• Examples include: Berry College
($683m), Furman ($545m),
Wheaton ($363m), Calvin
($99m).
• Some tuition dependency
• Near-elite student body
• Good range of undergraduate
programs
• Teaching load 3:3
• No strong scholarly journals
–
 Regional, Master’s Granting
• Examples include: Houston
Baptist University ($85m), Biola
($54m), Azusa Pacific ($36m),
Seattle Pacific ($47m),
Westmont ($80m).
• Heavily tuition dependent
• Virtually no Ph.D. or professional
schools
• Teaching load 4:4
• Rare to host scholarly journals,
almost never of high rank
–
 Where We Are
• Regional
• Undergraduate
• Tuition dependent
• Localized in influence
• Heavy teaching loads limit faculty
contribution
• Best faculty leave
• Virtually no training of Ph.D.’s
Levels of Higher Educational Impact
Formulation of social and
scientific knowledge

Research and publication

Strong scholarship capability

Doctoral programs

Professional education

Full range of undergrad programs

Education with formation

Education
 The Price of Limited Vision
• Graduate students not trained
• Seminars not held
• Doctoral degrees not conferred
• Conferences not convened
• Journal articles not written
• Cultural presence not established
• Inability to address scientific controversies
academically
• Inability to establish social knowledge
• Perpetuation of perception of faith and reason as
separate realms
 What Is Needed?

• Someone to take up the banner of the unaccomplished

mission of Billy Graham and Carl F. H. Henry.
• A comprehensive, Christian university that takes the
confession of Christ’s Lordship seriously

 What Is a Comprehensive
University?
• Full range of programming
• Moving toward tuition independence
• Strong power to scholarship
• Very strong student body
• Publishing faculty
• Scholarly journals
• Broad cultural impact including scientific
thought
 Why Should We Focus on Higher
Education?

 Incredibly strategic time of decision for

students
– Church participation
– Marriage
– Voting
– Vocation
– Philosophy of life
– Mentors
