<p>I doubt the USMA really encourages free thinking either. Special purpose schools with distinct POV. In a free country even having ones you disagree with should be fine. BTW on the ground gays at LU are common and not discriminated against. The Law program is more about values/politics Barber is an outlier that takes care of keeping the LU’s more conservative supporters happy. LU is highly successful and reinvesting the funds into improving the school hand over fist. In reality it is barely 20 years old. BTW LU essentially supported Romney. hardly an extreme right winger. In the day JF said lots of crazy stuff to get press and he admits it. JFJr is more moderate and focused on building a school.</p>
<p>You are right, barrons. Liberty definitely has a distinct POV–an extreme one.</p>
<p>I would just encourage anyone considering applying to this school to really do their homework first. Because of its size and the fame of its televangelist founder Liberty is better known than it would be otherwise (just look at any of the lists of “regional” schools on USNWR for a comparison–you won’t likely recognize most of the names at similar positions in the rankings to Liberty). I was unable to find the Common Data Set but that would be a good thing to have as a way of evaluating the school more closely.</p>
<p>I think on the ground it is far less extreme. Posturing for some of the core versus good local citizen doing lots of good for local community and afar. Few students are what anyone would call extreme. No they are not highly selective and give great fin aid. Their calling is not to become elitist. Much more into creating opportunity.</p>
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<p>So… when you do it, it’s ok, but when someone else does it, it’s not? They can point to specifics in the Bible to support their views for why they do not want (various) things (not just LGBT) in their religious setting and no one is forced to go there. It’s private set up the way they want it. What’s your foundation for your discrimination in a PUBLIC setting (workplace)? EVERYONE has individual views that others will disagree with, but in public settings, discrimination (from anyone) is terrible IMO.</p>
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<p>I agree, and I’ve yet to find anyone thinking of applying there who has not carefully considered all aspects of the school. Many find them a great fit. To each our own. That’s what tolerance is all about - not prejudice and discrimination in a public setting against those who disagree with our views. Anyone doing that (public setting) is no better than someone from the KKK IMO no matter whether they are against LGBT or someone’s religion. It’s all the same. Discrimination is not only wrong, it’s illegal.</p>
<p>Academic caliber wise (class content, not rankings) they seem to be on par with state directional Us maybe a little higher as I’ve heard of research from Liberty (on Alzheimers) and can’t think of any from our state schools (it could be there though - not something I check on often - mainly I hear what ex-students and prospective students care to share - from any school).</p>
<p>Liberty claims to be the “largest private, nonprofit university in the nation” with 92,000 students. </p>
<p>(Most of those are online students, of course.)</p>
<p>:p</p>
<p>I’m an LU grad and all my friends and fellow Alum do quite well in corporate America. I’m not sure where folks are getting their info but its not reliable. Just check LinkedIn for what types of careers LU grads have.</p>
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<p>Creekland, I understand where you are going but I am not sure you understand either my position or the laws on job discrimination. Federal law bars discrimination on the basis of religion. It does not protect job candidates from being passed over because of where they went to college. Hiring managers make decisions all the time between candidate A and candidate B using differences in educational qualifications as one way to evaluate their abilities, intelligence, and potential. Obviously, countless threads on this site have covered the subject of college reputation, geographical preferences for alumni of schools in a certain area, and so forth. Having Liberty on one’s resume might not be considered an advantage over being an alum of a state directional or small private school that has a less polarizing reputation. It’s no different than how a hiring manager in a conservative business might react to seeing a resume from a candidate who had a degree from Warren Wilson or Evergreen State. Their first reaction might be “that person is probably a dreadlocked liberal tree-hugger,” and would pass him or her over for the next person in the pile. It’s not explicit discrimination, but rather a subjective part of a holistic admissions process.</p>
<p>Sally, I may have missed this, but do you have any first-hand knowledge of/experience with Liberty University?</p>
<p>No. But I have extensive first-hand experience with the religious doctrine espoused by the school, and with the challenges posed by people proselytizing in the workplace.</p>
<p>I am curious–is it necessary to have first-hand knowledge of each school we comment on? Every thread on this site would be a lot more sparse if that were the case, don’t you think?</p>
<p>Well I have first hand knowledge and LU is great. I’m even flying down from Texas for the LU vs Brevard FB game this Nov. I will admit some LU folks are SUPER Jesus Freaks but it is a Christian Uni after all. You will find all types of people there. My close friend and fellow alum is an Atheist. He doesn’t care for Christianity but likes LU’s campus and people.</p>
<p>Liberty University is great=) big school great campus…been there…have many good friends there and they all love it very much.=) The rules are not that strict lol…I know strict rules… If your looking for a good Christian education Liberty is a great choice.</p>
<p>Sally - I understand hiring just fine - including having a preference for schools. As I often mention on other boards, around here one ought to have Penn St or VA Tech on their resume if looking for a (first) Civil Engineering job. In FL, change those schools to FSU and Ga Tech (perhaps a couple of others - it’s been 17 years since we left FL). Employers know those schools and the capability of graduates from them. They may or may not know other schools, but prefer not to take chances. Not long ago someone was mentioning UT as being superior to Penn St for structural engineering. That may be true in the few areas that care about prestige, but I did a quick google search of local design and build firms - no UT grads - almost all Penn St grads (some VA). If a student knows they want to work locally, which school would you advise? There’s no way I’m suggesting UT to my students - unless they want to work in the south or a couple of high prestige places.</p>
<p>But when you aren’t in a “knowledge” situation like that - as many jobs aren’t - to dismiss anyone from a religious school simply due to the name IS illegal. It happens - just as I’m sure there are still white supremacists out there who will get rid of non-white names and managers who will look on Facebook trying to avoid LGBT candidates. None of them will call it anything like that, of course, there will always be “another” reason, but that doesn’t make it right. You are suggesting this happens in droves. It doesn’t.</p>
<p>Nonetheless - the proof is in the pudding (so to speak). Graduates of Liberty that I personally know have not had problems finding jobs or getting into grad/prof school quite akin to similar level secular schools. The few out there who discriminate are probably offset by those who like the name and what it stands for. Since many prof schools also like diversity, coming from a Christian school could possibly even be a hook over secular U. ;)</p>
<p>(This still in no way means I’m suggesting Liberty to all… I think a high stat student could likely be bored there academically and there are those rules, plus it’s a conservative atmosphere… just do your research on any school. If it’s a good fit, students I know who go there love it - and do not appear to have problems after graduation. As part of research, it’s good to ask where recent grads in ____ major have gotten jobs or gotten accepted into grad/prof school. There will always be bigots who decide things based upon stereotypes and differing views. I wouldn’t let those folks influence a major decision.)</p>
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<p>Well, it’s a good thing the name has more to do with politics than religion then. :)</p>
<p>Serious question–how would you know a candidate was being rejected because Liberty is religious, rather than the fact that it is just not a very good school? </p>
<p>Related to all this, there was a long thread on Liberty a few years ago that you participated in (and offered a great list of Christian colleges, along with their test scores). You yourself had Liberty at the bottom. (See your post #42 on page 3.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/918566-liberty-university-respected-college-whats-your-opinion-liberty-university.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/918566-liberty-university-respected-college-whats-your-opinion-liberty-university.html</a></p>
<p>LU has come many miles in a few years. From nearly broke just before JFsr died to a net worth of $1 Billion and growing. Admission on campus is now selective and capped. The campus is nearly double in size with $500 million in new construction going on. </p>
<p>[About</a> Liberty | Feature - Master Plan | Liberty University](<a href=“About Liberty | Liberty University”>About Liberty | Liberty University)</p>
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<p>If a company is interviewing/hiring graduates from other similar level (similar location) schools, but not Liberty, one ought to see a red flag. If grad/prof school students regularly had the scores, etc, needed to get into places, but seldom or never did, that would be another red flag. That’s why I feel the proof is in the graduates. I’m not seeing massive discrimination. I’m sure it exists, but my gut also tells me there are likely employers out there who give Liberty a boost too and the two likely balance each other out.</p>
<p>As for the list - I still stand by it as it’s pure statistics. I didn’t put Liberty at the bottom - their scores/stats did that. 
But there are similar level secular schools too, they just seldom get mentioned on cc. Students from our high school head off to them every year too. Most college bound students don’t head to the top 2% colleges. High stat students are likely to be as bored at either school. IMO there are better choices that fit them academically (Cedarville, Grove City, maybe Biola - the maybe because I’ve only heard “of” the school rather than knowing someone with first hand knowledge - would all be conservative options to check into). Students who fit their stats (and fit either type school, secular or Liberty) seem to have the same success rate from my experience - or if there’s a difference, it’s not easy to tell.</p>
<p>Any scores and/or graduation rates one could find now about Liberty could be really skewed if they include their online students. One would need to find on-campus stats and I’m not sure how easy that is. Barrons, do you have that info from a reliable source? I’d question the selective admission even if it is capped… I’ve yet to see anyone get rejected. I didn’t see anything supporting that statement on the master plan link.</p>
<p>barrons, the only statistic I could find that said Liberty was “selective” (20% admission, LOL). was from one of those silly Yah** answers. It was completely unsubstantiated. Every other statistic I have seen, from reputable sources, cites SAT/ACT scores similar to what people have posted here and also mentioned its OPEN admissions policies.</p>
<p>So, yes, please do share how a school could become as selective as some of our nation’s top colleges and universities in a few short years.</p>
<p>US News rankings say LU has a 24.6% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>[Liberty</a> University | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberty-university-10392]Liberty”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberty-university-10392)</p>
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<p>Agree that this would be a flag–but I still don’t think it would be easy for a job candidate to demonstrate federally prohibited discrimination on the basis of religion as a result. Especially with the job market being what it is right now.</p>
<p>Well, College Navigator, which is an unbiased government website, says it has an open admissions policy.</p>
<p>[College</a> Navigator - Liberty University](<a href=“College Navigator - Liberty University”>College Navigator - Liberty University)</p>
<p>Here is what Liberty says about its admissions–not comprehensive data, but it’s something.</p>
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<p>LU doesn’t have unlimited dorm/classroom space. I’m not so sure about the 24.9% acceptance rate either. Given the limitions mentioned they still can’t accept 100% of all students.</p>