What Are the Benefits of Attending a Christian College?

Going to college can be scary. Typically, it’s your first time away from the shelter of home, and you’re making new decisions and often living on your own and having to manage financial and self-care needs independently. Perhaps you’re leaving a long-time friend group, as well. At a Christian college, you’ll be surrounded by other students who have the same core religious and moral values as you, which is a comfort. As one of the tenets of God’s church is supporting one another in a loving and accountable community, this also can be extremely helpful for students, who find themselves relying on the friends they make in new and important ways. 

Christian colleges are often smaller than other higher education institutions, and this naturally helps create a tighter-knit community. Extracurricular activities abound, and there are many opportunities to foster a positive and loving friend group filled with other Christian believers. As we’re reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:27, 

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

3. Smaller Class Sizes and Teacher-Student Ratios

Because they’re smaller schools, Christian colleges also typically boast smaller class sizes, as well as smaller ratios between students and teachers. This enables students to have more interaction with their peers and faculty, which is usually a very good thing. Individualized attention is easier in a smaller environment, leading to deeper growth and connection. Many also have fewer teachers, so they have the chance to get to know those teachers better. There’s little risk of being “just a number” in this sort of environment. 

At one Christian college my daughter and I visited, we got to have lunch with the department head, and we learned she teaches a number of classes each semester, getting to know the students and praying for and with them. All of this gives the opportunity for 1 Thessalonians 5:11 to be fulfilled fully:

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

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Many Christian colleges integrate chapel, campus-wide prayer, Bible studies, and mission opportunities into the curriculum. Weekly chapel enables students to come together regularly during the school week to worship. At one Christian college we visited, we were told how the school sometimes shuts down classes on occasion for massive group prayer sessions, whether corporate or individual. These help students understand that even though they have academic and work responsibilities, as Christians, we’re responsible to God foremost. They also have opportunities to grow in their faith in ways they might not have been exposed to before. As Psalm 1:1-3 proclaims, 

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”

5. Strong Diversity  

Christian colleges can be extremely diverse places. Many are attracting students from across the world, which means students get a chance to encounter many other cultures on campus. There’s also typically strong diversity in gender and race. As 1 Corinthians 12:14 reminds us, there is beauty in difference: 

“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”

6. Mission Opportunities

Most colleges have good study abroad opportunities, and Christian colleges are no different. Christian colleges also tend to have excellent mission opportunities as well, both local and across the globe. This helps us fulfill what Jesus urged us to do in Mark 16:15: 

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

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Even if their before-aid tuition price gives you sticker shock, rest assured that most Christian colleges have excellent scholarship and other aid opportunities that bring costs to what you’d pay at a state university, if not even less expensive. As Philippians 4:19 maintains, 

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

8. Eternal Friends

Many people meet their future spouse or lifelong close friends during their college years. After all, it’s a time of great change, and walking together during this season forges tremendous bonds. When you’re doing this alongside other Christians, you have the added benefit of knowing these aren’t temporary friends—because you’re all part of the body of Christ together, you’ll be able to share that bond for eternity. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

9. Religious Courses

Most Christian colleges require their students to take a handful of courses that grow them spiritually, such as a Bible history class, theology seminar, or other spiritual gift development course. They can be a big help and lay a strong foundation during what is a hugely influential and precarious time in a person’s life. As Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

College isn’t for everyone, and a Christian college might not be the right fit for you and the career you are pursuing. But if you feel God calling you to consider a Christian college, heed him and do your part to research and explore the options available to you. You might find it’s exactly the sort of higher education you need.

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