I’ve always wondered why are there so many private Christian colleges. Can I still go to one of these Christian colleges even if I am not Christian? Is it harder to get into if you are not Christian and will I get discriminated if I go?
Depends on the college. Some welcome those of other religions or those with less religious commitment and do not have heavy religious requirements or environment. But others have a much heavier religious environment and are unlikely to be good fits for those not of the same religion with strong commitment.
Examples to compare would be Santa Clara and Christendom, both Catholic. Another example would be Baylor and Liberty, both Southern Baptist.
Some Christian colleges require LOR from the applicant’s pastor. That would make it difficult for nonChristians to be accepted. Some do not. Some require chapel attendance on a daily basis and/or evening prayer group which may not be tolerable for nonChristians. Classes will often be opened with prayer and taught from a Christian perspective.
You can find out all of that from each schools website.
You won’t be denied admission on the basis of your religion. Some schools that have religious affiliations have very large student populations that don’t adhere to the affiliated religion (like Boston College) whereas other universities have a more intense religious homogeneity (like Brigham Young.)
How do you know?
@halcyonheather - Depends if the school receives any federal funding - private colleges that receive federal funding cannot reject students on the premise of race, religion, or sex (unless it is a single sex school.) If the school doesn’t receive government funding, they can do as they please.
@preamble1776, they absolutely can and frequently do reject students on the basis of [religion and sex](2 Christian colleges win Title IX exemptions that give them the right to expel transgender students).
Biola University (Bible Institute of Los Angeles), a well known Christian University in LA [requires that every](First-Time College Students - Undergraduate - Biola University) successful applicant be an “evangelical believer in the Christian faith.” They receive federal funding but are exempt from religious discrimination laws.
@whenhen - Does BIOLA require students to adhere to specific theological beliefs as well? Like inerrant Biblical literacy? That’s really interesting.
@preamble1776 The following is taken directly from Biola’s [Academic and Behavioral Standards](http://catalog.biola.edu/content.php?catoid=19&navoid=1872):
@whenhen - Oh, I know a lot of religiously affiliated schools ban behaviors that are regarded as sinful within Christian doctrine (pre-marital sex, drinking, etc.) – I meant theological presuppositions – like interpreting Genesis as literal, the role of the Virgin Mary’s conception, etc. The school stipulates Christian identity yet Christianity is such a broad and diverse landscape wrt ecclesiology and theology.
To the OP, the reason that there are so many private Christian colleges has to do with a few factors. The most important is that Christianity has historically been the dominant religion in the US. The second factor, one which is nearly as important, is that many schools were originally set up to train ministers of a particular denomination or to imbue students with the moral and academic teachings of a particular denominations. You can see that in two institutions, Harvard and Emory which are essentially secular universities even though Emory (unsure about Harvard) still maintains historic ties with the Methodist church. When I say historic, I truly mean that. When I was there, myself and some of the many other Jewish students, jokingly said that Emory stood for Early Methodist, Only Recently Yiddish.
The third factor is that religion continues to play a central role in a large percent of the US’ population which is why so many truly Christian universities continue to thrive. While some, most notably many of the Methodist and Jesuit schools, are quite secular in their orientations, a large number of Christian universities cater to the majority of the US population which considers religion to be a large component in their lives. It is no surprise that many in this group opt for a university that caters to their belief system.
Depends on the school. As others have mentioned, at some Christian schools, all faiths or lack there of are welcome. Georgetown is one of the best examples of this. At other schools, people outside of the faith are welcome but there will be enormous pressure to fit in with the culture, study the religious texts, go to chapel, etc. Brigham Young University (BYU) is an excellent example of this. At still other schools, non Christians cannot get accepted. Biola University which I’ve discussed upthread, automatically rejects non Evangelical Christians.
This depends on the institution in question.
@preamble1776 I know that BYU has recently taken some heat from current and former students for automatically expelling people who they’ve found out no longer believe in the LDS Church, regardless of their actions. Interestingly enough, BYU allows never-mormons to attend the school, but if they convert to Mormonism and then it is found that they no longer believe in the Book of Mormon, especially that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet, the convert turned ex-mormon can be expelled.
I would recommend reading up on the [Free BYU](emory founding - Google Search)movement.
Answered my question (Evangelism – trans-denominational?) – which raises even more questions, but I’ll leave you alone.
@whenhen - Believe in Mormon doctrine or believe in any affiliated religion? BYU charges non-LDS members higher tuition, doesn’t it? I remember reading that BYU has a pretty tight knit (yet extremely small) Muslim community. (I indicated Muslim on my own application - I was interested in BYU for quite a while.)
@preamble1776 BYU expels Mormons who are found to not believe in core Mormon doctrine. The FreeBYU campaign is trying to make it so that if a student paying Mormon rate tuition looses his or her faith, the student will simply be charged the non-Mormon tuition. As it stands, a Mormon student who either stops believing entirely or switches to any other religion besides the LDS Church (even separate sects of Mormonism like the Community of Christ are not exempt) is expelled.
Non Mormons are exempt from this rule. I believe BYU thinks that after four years of being essentially surrounded by Mormons, doctrine, and taking classes about the religion, the students will eventually convert. From what I understand from non-Mormons or even areligious mormons who have attended both Provo and Idaho, there is enormous pressure to be active within the church.
Yes, you can go to (some, maybe even most) Christian colleges as a non-Christian. I, as an Agnostic, would personally not feel comfortable at a Christian college. I have many Christian friends and I have no problem with their faith (though I disagree with some things), but I also really value my relationships with those who don’t identify as Christian. I’ve had a few experiences with Christian friends trying to convert me and not respecting my difference in opinion, even though I really did hear them out, so that’s probably affected my opinion on this too.
Plus, I think without really believing in the regulations at a Christian college, it would be hard to follow them, and I don’t think there’s much integrity in not respecting those regulations when the majority of your classmates do. In the end, it’s a really personal decision to make.
There are plenty of people who go to colleges that don’t match their religions. I think the main thing to do is to visit the colleges you are interested in and ask a tour guide or an admissions employee how much religion is tied into college life and the curriculum. For example, some colleges have their major events (such as convocation) in Churches, which may be uncomfortable if that’s not your scene. On the other hand, a lot of religious colleges require you to take a religion course as part of the curriculum, but the class can be about anything from Judaism to Hinduism, which probably wouldn’t be a big deal. Even before you visit schools, I would say ask on CC forums how much religion is tied into the college, because every college is different.
@preamble1776, I’d argue that Biola’s statement does require theological presuppositions in a larger sense. As you mentioned, there are many Christian denominations and not all of them think that drinking, smoking, or being gay are sinful. Still other denominations nominally condemn these things but don’t take any action to prevent adherents from doing them. By addressing these in the statement Biola is basically requiring adherence to conservative evangelical Christianity. Biola does hold to the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. I don’t know if they require their students to affirm that, but they do require their faculty members to submit a statement of understanding of and agreement with the doctrinal statements of the university twice - once when they are hired, and again when they apply for tenure.
Some colleges do have statements of faith that students are expected to adhere too, though. One example is Pensacola Christian College, which has a relatively long “articles of faith” that stipulates things like belief in young Earth creationism, believe in the trinity, very specific beliefs about the Rapture and ensuing tribulation, and a statement about which versions of the Bible they use and that they don’t promote “hyper-Calvinism.” Patrick Henry College requires all students to affirm their much shorter articles of faith, which is also much broader and includes only tenets that the majority of Christians would believe in (the Bible is infallible, man needs salvation, Jesus rose from the dead).
So, in answer to your question, OP, it depends on the college. Some Christian colleges (which is different from colleges affiliated with Christian denominations - Emory and BC, for example, are not Christian colleges, even though they are currently or historically affiliated with Christian denominations) require you to affirm a statement of faith and/or adhere to the requirements of Christianity regardless of your religious beliefs. Many Christian colleges require regular attendance at church; some colleges will allow you to select your own church whereas others require you to go to theirs. Many Christian colleges have standards of conduct that you have to adhere to; some of them will be difficult to abide by if you are not Christian and don’t share those beliefs. But I remember reading an article that a small number of very conservative Muslim students actually appreciated the atmosphere at a Christian college (I think it was Brigham Young) because even though they didn’t share the faith of the majority of students, they felt like their own conservative faith was nurtured and respected through the university’s conduct policy.
Whether or not you’ll be discriminated against depends on the college. At bigger, more well-known, and more “liberal” Christian colleges, you may feel like an outsider but not necessarily discriminated against. It’s just that nothing will really be designed for the experience of a non-Christian at a Christian college. That speaks to the reason Christian colleges were founded - was to cater to the population of student who wants to really grow and thrive within their religious life at college, in all aspects. It’s about the integration of Christian life and worship with higher education, not simply about being affiliated with a Christian church (which is why Biola is a Christian college, but Boston College isn’t). You’ll find it everywhere - discussed in the classroom; professors may pray before and after class; extracurriculars may work in casual mention of God and students may pray before and after them; social life may be centered around religious activities. Evangelical Christians are generally very happy to educate non-believers about their faith in an effort to convert you, but over the long-term if you don’t want to convert to Christianity I think it might be an uncomfortable experience for you.
For what it’s worth, a former Brown University student named Kevin Roose write a book called [The Unlikely Disciple](http://www.amazon.com/The-Unlikely-Disciple-Semester-University/dp/0446178438), about his semester at Liberty University. I haven’t read the book, but I have read some interviews and Roose said that it was a lot less awkward than he thought it would be.