<p>I stumbled on to this site couple of weeks ago and have learnt quite a bit through the discussions here. My son is a Junior in HS this year and we are looking for a Christian College with strong Engineering program (He wants to be a Mechanical Engineer with focus in Automotive industry). He is a top student in the class with excellent GPA, and is at 99+ percentile on the recent PSAT, with a good chance of making it to NMSF/NMF. We are researching Le Tourneau, Baylor and Cederville. Christian values are very important to us. Any thoughts / ideas from others in the forum that has already gone through this path, will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>[Mechanical</a> Engineering | College of Engineering | Marquette University](<a href=“Mechanical Engineering // Marquette University”>Mechanical Engineering // Marquette University)</p>
<p>[Santa</a> Clara University - School of Engineering - Undergraduate Programs](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/engineering/undergraduate/programs.cfm]Santa”>Undergraduate Programs - School of Engineering - Santa Clara University)<br>
In case you are in CA- Dadcal…</p>
<p>Grove City College ¶</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Mechanical Engineering](<a href=“http://www.gcc.edu/academics/SEM/mechanicalengineering/Pages/Department%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering.aspx]Department”>Academics - Grove City College)</p>
<p>There used to be a dad on here who posted about his son’s Grove City experience. He was very positive about it. I don’t know if he’s still around. Here in PA, Grove City has a good reputation overall, but I’m not that familiar with mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>[College</a> of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.nd.edu/]College”>http://engineering.nd.edu/)</p>
<p>[Mechanical</a> Engineering | Benedictine College](<a href=“http://www.benedictine.edu/engineering/degrees/mechanical-engineering]Mechanical”>http://www.benedictine.edu/engineering/degrees/mechanical-engineering)
Benedictine College</p>
<p>A great looking school in a bit off an old train stop town in northeast kansas. Catholic but only 55-60% of students are catholic</p>
<p>I forward Grove City.</p>
<p>Look at their SAT and GPA ranges :)</p>
<p>Strong academics Christian Reformed affiliated college in NW Iowa.</p>
<p>This is a tough one, imo.</p>
<p>Why? Because so much of one’s professional opportunity depends upon programmatic reputation in engineering. At least and especially until one has the time and experience to establish a track record of note. It’s like an MD who’s attended med school in Grenada or another off-shore school. They are initially suspect and limited in their career paths. Why do we see so many smaller, rural, general hospitals manned exclusively by docs with unvalidated credentials or limited English.</p>
<p>And there in lies the real dilemma for a serious, highly qualified engineering student aspiring to a high-profile or exceptional career. It’s not impossible with a low-profile engineering diploma, but it is more challenging. Less benefit-of-doubt afforded the Dordt, Benedictine, or GC mechanical engineer than the GA Tech, Michigan, Rose-Hulman, MIT, Penn State, Cal Tech, Naval Academy engineer. And same holds true for those aspiring to becoming engineering Ph.D. profs. Credentials count more in professions like engineering than teaching, sociology, ministry, or accounting. </p>
<p>One additional variable to consider is size of a program. Generally, one does NOT want to have the same engineering professor for multiple courses, with some exceptions. And small programs usually have fewer options for students. And when there are fewer students, it becomes very difficult for institutions to commit to providing, maintaining, and updating very expensive equipment and facilities to remain current and state-of-the-art in engineering and some other fields. </p>
<p>This is not as simple as it seems, and for Christians, it can be even more confounding.</p>
<p>You might want to look at non-Christian schools with strong Christian groups. MIT, for example, has a number of Christian fellowships, has a Christian a cappella group, etc. Don’t know if they fit what you’re looking for, though. There are probably other strong engineering schools with similar groups.</p>
<p>I agree with photodad. There are many universites or colleges without any religious affiliations that envertheless have great, active Christian fellowship groups. Many also have on campus services.</p>
<p>There is some modest “good news” in pondering this problem, btw. Professor Thomas Sowell, a research fellow at Hoover Institute, Stanford U. has written much of the problem of intellectuals and pseudo-intellectualism on campuses, which in many instances is tangential to atheism and social engineering … vs. REAL practical engineering. And Dr. Sowell goes on to note that engineering schools and programs are MUCH less susceptible to becoming havens for ungodly people for at least a couple reasons. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>A great engineer is usually measured by what he/she does. If the bridge falls down because of some hare-brained idea the engineer wanted to “experiment” with? Well, they are held accountable and invalidated as professional. Conversely those in the liberal arts are only held accountable to inner standards, refereed journals, and tenure and promotion committees. (And that’s one of the major reasons we see such goofy stuff coming from so many psych, soc, English, history, poli sci, humanities, communication, etc. programs. No real consequences beyond what their peers think.) </p></li>
<li><p>Engineers are by nature observers of reality. And as such they look at the order of the world around them and knowing that one of the fundamental laws of science is that things don’t tend toward such order absent intelligent intervention, well they are ironically inclined to recognize and acknowledge the presence of an Intelligent Interventionist. Some, many call him God. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>And so it is that even in monstrously ungodly megaversities have havens and covies of godly folks, most often in the hard sciences.</p>
<p>That is true. I have heard from a Student at Texas A&M that if you want to go to a conservative christian college go to Texas A&M and major in either any Engineering degree or Computer Science degree</p>
<p>While more anecdote, it lends support for your point that author Lee Strobel was guided to interview a Christian prof in the chem eng dept. of Texas A&M as I recall. </p>
<p>The other element that fits the profile we’re working to project is that A&M is the LAND-GRANT institution for Texas. Again, while not to take this too far too fast, what that means is that the institution MUST provide agriculture, engineering and other technical programs, AND ROTC/military training. Even more compelling than most other modern-day land-grants, Texas A&M is one of two major land-grants that retains a Corps of Cadets. (The other is VA Tech.) and until fairly recently was all male and all students were part of that Corps. All that leads to attracting a significantly different type of professor and student than one might find at even a U. of Texas or other larger institution.</p>
<p>Do you have an article for the Thomas Sowell thing?</p>
<p>If so i would love to read it</p>
<p>Sowell has written extensively … he’s 80+ years old. He was a young marxist and Keynesian fan, studying at Harvard (for which he has NO affinity nor affection) then got straightened away when he went to U. Chicago and studied under Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman. Many books, mountains of articles. I’m presently reading both his autobiography and his revised edition of “Society and Intellectuals.” I highly recommend the latter, if you’re inclined toward "book readin’ " </p>
<p>If you simply want to read some of his essays, check out this website. I’m sure there are others. </p>
<p>[Thomas</a> Sowell](<a href=“http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp]Thomas”>http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp)</p>
<p>Thomas Sowell is “the bomb”! 
I didn’t know his background, WP. Thanks for the enlightenment.</p>
<p>Of course the left-winged progressive blacks call him “Uncle Tom” because he has left their plantation, refusing to swallow their ridiculous ideology of votes for hand-outs and a hot-and-a-cot lifestyle. But like Dr. Carson, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, David Webb, and increasingly many other minorities who recognize what is being foisted upon their seduced brothers and sisters. Sowell’s been out of his chains a long time, even at a liberal bastion like Stanford. A very bright man, who can’t be “bought and sold” with handouts, or in his racket, politicized grants.</p>
<p>Baylor is one of the few Christian universities with a fairly sizeable engineering program (though not big at Baylor), and they are just now building an engineering/computer science residence college to open in 2013 that looks great in terms bringing them together to support one another. They also are Christian in more than name, and everyone we have talked to says the professors are very involved in student’s lives and very caring. The new head of the engineering dept is from Texas A and M and is looking to expand the program. A & M is a very conservative university, but it seemed to have its own cult-like quality to its sports programs and military focus. But for Baylor, and most of all, they do give a full tuition (and fees with extra good scores) scholarship to National Merit scholars. Likely my son will attend Baylor because it will be half the cost of Rice for us with that scholarship, even though my husband and I attended Rice.</p>