Evangelical Colleges Growing in Popularity

In the field of higher education, there is one development which may surprise a lot of people: enrollment at evangelical colleges, which is to say schools that are attached to a particular evangelical Christian denomination and that emphasize the importance of religion - are growing both in popularity among prospective students as well as stature in academia. But why?

The Honolulu Advertiser explains:

[P]arents and students increasingly are seeking out colleges that emphasize conservative moral values, which still set evangelical schools apart from most of academia. They look to schools like Wheaton College in Illinois, one of the most prestigious of the evangelical liberal arts colleges, which only this month held its first social dance — other than a square dance — since the school's founding in 1860.

[M]any academics remain concerned that the schools bend their instruction to conform with religious doctrine, stifling intellectual inquiry. They note that the colleges commonly require faculty members to make faith pledges attesting to their Christian religious beliefs and refuse to hire homosexuals.

There are actually a number of very secular reasons why some people attend these evangelical colleges - for example they are cheaper, tend to have a smaller enrollment, and the students often have closer relationships with the professors. Popularity today, though, won't translated into popularity down the road unless the schools are able to maintain high standards when it comes to things like science and scholarship? Will they be able to? Perhaps - although as the nation becomes more religiously diverse, that may require moving more towards the mainstream and losing some of their distinctively religious character.

Thanks to "Gullibility" for pointing out this story...

Read More:

• Fundamentalism
• Evangelicalism