I can't tell you how many times I have heard that young adults often go off to college and lose their religion. Of course those offering such laments are often two (or more) generations older than today's college students. I suspect that most who advance the argument base it on an absence of 20- and 30-somethings in the pews on Sunday mornings and because they have heard others assert it with such regularity that they assume it simply must be true. A few years ago I shared what was Read More …
college
Stunning Sacred Spaces (#0997)
Best College Reviews recently published a list of the 30Most Beautiful College Chapels/Cathedrals. While their list is presented in rank order and features sacred spaces with very different histories and architecture, the corresponding article contains no information about the criteria by which the spaces were selected or ranked. So What? I have visited several sacred spaces on college campuses and far more that have no link to an institution of higher education. I suspect most of my Read More …
Amenities Over Ministry? (#0992)
Tyler Kingkade's recent Huffington Post article considers a somewhat disturbing trend in higher education: increased investing in amenities like student services and activities, athletics and facilities. His article considers research by The National Bureau of Economic Research published earlier in January as "College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?" So What? The cost of higher education keeps climbing higher and higher as does student Read More …
Review of No Longer Invisible (#0813)
Meet the Authors Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen have been married for more than three decades, and both serve as professors at Messiah College. Douglas is distinguished professor of church history and theology (I have reviewed his most recent work: The World's Christians). Rhonda is professor of psychology and director of faculty development. Together they have co-authored three books: Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging the Read More …
College Presidents’ Pledge Against Global Poverty (#0719)
The Presidents' Pledge Against Global Poverty (PPAGP) invites current and former college presidents to pledge to donate 5 percent or more of personal income to fight global poverty by giving to organizations of their choice. Since PPAGP was founded in 2010 by Ann Svennungsen, past president of Texas Lutheran University and The Fund for Theological Education, 28 presidents have joined. So What? According to the nonprofit's FAQ sheet Presidents’ Pledge participants believe that personal Read More …
Higher Education Myths (#0606)
Jay Schalin, Director of State Policy for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, shared 10 myths about academia. While most readers are likely to disagree with one or more items on his list, the following group warrants additional attention: Everybody should go to college. All faculty research is necessary and/or important. Higher Education drives the economy. So What? With the cost of higher education rising faster than inflation and even faster than Read More …
How Many Devices Does a College Student Need? (#0559)
Educause, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology, recently released their 2011 report on undergraduate students and technology. The associated infographic provides a visual overview of the findings divided into the following categories: institutions, instructors, software and hardware. Since yesterday was Black Friday and Cyber Monday is coming soon, I was drawn to the section on Read More …
Review of Engaging the Culture, Changing the World (#0470)
Meet the Author Since 1996, Philip W. Eaton has served as the President of Seattle Pacific University, an Evangelical Protestant school of around 4,000 students. Earlier in his career, he spent eight years as a professor of English and American literature followed by eight years in business as a commercial and industrial property developer. Eaton has served on many boards, including the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Read More …
The Most Religious Universities (#0468)
John Blake recently wrote a post for the CNN Belief blog about the results of the latest Princeton Review survey of college students. Specifically, he focused on how schools fared with respect to how their students answered a question about just how religious other students on campus are. Students responded to the question using a Likert (1 to 5) scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The top 5 schools with the "most religious students" are Brigham Young Read More …
High Cost of College (#0420)
Michael Feldstein, project manager at Oracle, shared a chart showing the skyrocketing cost of college tuition (and other fees) created by Anya Kamenetz for a presentation earlier this year about the transformation of higher education. So What? In the same presentation Kamenetz notes that, according to the College Board, the full cost of a public BA is $112,520, which reflects an increase of 24% over the last five years (from the 2005-06 school year to the 2010-2011 school year). While Read More …