What benefits are there when attending a Christian University than a public one?

13 comments

1. If you’re a Christian you may benefit from the aspect that faith could add to your education, and there are some Christian universities that are very well ranked so you’d also be getting a good overall education if you went there. And especially for graduate programs, the religious aspect is minimal or non-existent so it’s more going there for the school/academics than anything else.

2. If it is a Catholic university, specifically a Jesuit one… then you are getting a better education.

3. Some Christian schools are strong and have a good reputation. As a college prof, I urge you to go to a school that will provide you with the support you need for your future career. If this is undecided and money is tight, consider a community college or state school first to save money on your general ed.

   For example, if faith is important to you, some schools like Pepperdine and Notre Dame may mix both worlds. Otherwise, I urge students to go to schools where they can get experience outside of the classroom with internships, research, etc.

4. None unless you’re religious and want to live under stricter rules.

5. The Jesuits run a very solid set of universities that give you a very good well rounded education.

6. Communion with the holy spirit and a blessed curriculum are among the many intangible benefits of a religious education.

7. You get bumped closer to line at heaven?

8. There aren’t any. Really. I’m not trying to be snide or anything. There are a few really good Christian universities, but there are also some really good public ones. The Christian label doesn’t make it any better in any way.

   While the ceiling for both is about the same, the floor is where you’ll see the biggest difference. Just about every public university is going to be at least okay and have regional accreditation. The same isn’t true for Christian schools.

9. I went to a school of a different branch of my religion. It was mostly in order to be able to explore faith without it being tied to the epistemology I grew up with. Personally, I didn’t expect it to be easy to find good faith arguments talking down particular religious points. In a secular situation, I’d expect faults directed to religion in particular that actually apply to ideology in general. I wanted point by point discussions (wasn’t expecting to hold onto religion, but I wanted better arguments than “religion is the cause of all evils” that just don’t hold up.).

   The school was pretty well regarded in the actual field I wanted to study, too.

10. Environment mostly. The rules are usually stricter because they want to attract people where those rules aren’t going to be a problem. It can make a big impact on the culture on campus as well.

11. Basically none unless you want to network with other christians and parlay it into a job at some christian based business.

12. It’s essentially about atmosphere.

    You’ll be surrounded by people whom you have a similar bond with, and respect for each other’s faith and rituals. You’ll have professors and curriculum that don’t go out of their way to disparage Christianity.

    Although in general, I tell kids to attend the most prestigious school that get admitted to. You’ll always have campus clubs with Christians you can bond with.

13. Are you a Christian by the particular standards of the university you are considering? If the answer to my question is ‘No’, then the answer to your question is ‘None.’

    Edit: The Catholic and mainline Protestant ones are a different story, I suppose. It seems that the term ‘Christian university’ means different things to different sets of eyes.