As you conduct the college search with your teen, you'll probably receive helpful input from family members, friends, admissions experts, and your son or daughter's guidance counselor. All important resources.

We thought you'd also benefit from the advice and wisdom of a few folks you just might not get a chance to talk with one-on-one—Christian college presidents.

These presidents have made it their mission to develop Christian thinkers by creating mind-stretching, life-changing experiences for each student their schools serve. For them, the benefits of Christian college are more than abstract ideals: they are demonstrated, year after year, in the lives of students whose minds and hearts are shaped for service to God and the world. Here's what seven presidents told us about the value of a Christ-centered education.

Why should our family consider a Christian college?

Dr. Waybright: I'm convinced that students make many of their most important life decisions during the undergraduate years. They make up their minds about their careers, and often decide whether to make their faith their own or to turn away from it. Students form lasting friendships, and sometimes meet the person they marry. Christian colleges provide a unique opportunity to have Christ at the center of this life-formation process.

Dr. Cramer: The college experience should be about more than just earning a degree. At a Christian college, we want students to gain an understanding about the world and their place in it. We want to be a place that emphasizes Christian values and teaches students how to apply those values to everyday life. We don't expect our faculty to only impart knowledge in a lecture, but also to guide students as they learn how to be lifelong learners.

What else is unique about Christian colleges?

Dr. Waybright: We believe in educating the whole person—intellectually, of course, but also socially, spiritually and physically. Because a Christian school has a holistic approach to the human person, we're able to provide a quality and breadth of education that is hard to find at a public institution where there is not a unified worldview.

Dr. Eckman: I once asked a group of the top business leaders and senior pastors in our community this question: "What are you looking for in a college graduate?" One of the top things they mentioned was interpersonal relationship skills. One very successful businessman said that if a student has a 4.0 grade point average, but can't get along with people, his company doesn't want that student.

As a Christian institution, we strive to hold students accountable in areas of respect, honor and dignity toward all people. Our graduates are going to be able to work in a team and get along with others.

Will having a degree from a Christian college, rather than a state school or secular private college, hurt my child's chances of getting into grad school or getting a good job?

Dr. Scales: From my experience, just the opposite is true. Many employers, when they see that a student has gone to a Christian college, immediately think, I've increased my chances of having an ethical, honest employee.

Dr. Cramer: An employer told me recently that the discussion about where a prospective employee graduated actually only lasts about the first 30 seconds of the interview. While the name of the school is sometimes helpful to get you an interview, you still have to demonstrate that you have the needed skills for the job. Students from Christian colleges are typically well-rounded and well prepared. They've worked across disciplines, they know how to work with people, they have a strong work ethic. Many of the quality traits that employers are looking for align directly with the kind of quality traits found in graduates of Christian colleges.

Dr. Crothers: Parents and students sometimes believe there is more prestige in having a degree from a state university than from a small Christian college. I think that is absolutely false, and I can document it in terms of successful graduates. For example, my own daughter attended a Christian college, went on to med school, and graduated magna cum laude. She said to me, "Dad, it felt so good to beat out those guys from Harvard and Princeton!"

What are some other misconceptions people have about Christian colleges?

Dr. Waybright: Sometimes people think a Christian college will put everybody into some kind of a Jell-O mold, and they'll all come out exactly alike. What you really get is the kind of breadth that you find in the larger family of God. We have great diversity at Trinity, and I think that's true of many Christian colleges. Students come from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, which has led to a great richness in the educational community.

What guidance can you give my family as we try to decide between different Christian colleges? How do we choose between several good options?

Dr. Crothers: Look at the kind of experiences students get outside of the classroom. For example, in 2008 the Olympic Committee is taking 50 students from our media communication program to Beijing to film the Olympic events. That kind of hands-on experience creates opportunities and perspectives for students that are very hard to duplicate in the classroom. Make sure your student will have similar opportunities at the school he or she chooses.

Dr. Waybright: Talk to admissions counselors about their school's graduates. Ask questions like: Where are they serving? Have they been accepted into good graduate programs? Have they been able to find jobs? The answers you get will help you to discover the real value of the college's educational experience.

Dr. Livesay: I think if parents spend just a little time looking at two departments—English and science—they can get a good idea of whether the college fully supports all of their classes being taught from a biblical perspective. Also, ask questions about spiritual formation: What is the process? What are the tools? What are the expectations? What opportunities are there?

Dr. Scales: Look for the right fit for your son or daughter. That school will be a place where they can fit in and where people are going to care about them. Go to chapel, because chapel is often a place where you can get a feel for the tone of the campus. Go into the cafeteria. Ask students what they like and what they don't like about the school. It'd be good for your teen to spend the night in a residence hall. Talk and listen to students about their experience. You can get an education online if you just want a degree. But experience is really what you're paying for.

The cost of Christian college can seem so high. How do families afford these costs?

Dr. Byker: I would advise parents not to be put off by the "sticker price" of a college—the cost before scholarships and financial aid are factored in. Encourage your student to apply to the schools with the programs he or she is interested in. Apply for scholarships and financial aid, and make your final decision together after evaluating the entire financial aid package. Many families are surprised to find that it can be made to work.

Dr. Scales: A lot of people have the impression that private education is too expensive. That's partially because Christian colleges haven't educated people about the actual costs. People hear about the costs of schools like Yale and Harvard, and believe private education is out of reach. But the price of Christian colleges is much lower than many Ivy League schools, and we give a lot of financial aid. At Nyack, we serve a lot of students who come from economically oppressed homes. We find ways to help them afford to come here.

A Christian College education can be very expensive. How can we know the cost will be worth it?

Dr. Crothers: That's a big question, isn't it? The cost-benefit analysis. The faculty at Christian colleges make the cost worth it. These professors believe deeply that their calling in life is to invest in individual students. They often develop lifelong friendships with those students. I graduated from three public universities, and there's not one faculty member out there that I know well enough to even get a letter of recommendation. That's one huge difference between Christian schools and most secular schools.

Dr. Livesay: With studies indicating that more than half our Christian kids who attend public universities reject their families' religious beliefs, to me, the question isn't so much, "What am I paying for this?" as it is, "What is the alternative if I don't?" As a parent, I do not want my son or daugh-ter put in an environment where day after day they may face professors who try to move them away from the foundation of truth that they were taught as a child. I think that's a tremendous risk to take.

Dr. Scales: In the farm-based economic system of the Old Testament, parents wanted to leave property to their children. Today our economic system is based on education. So if we want to leave our children a legacy, let's give them the best education we can, whatever it costs. After that, it's up to them.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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