What has been called the “impending tidal wave of students” has now reached the college level. The statistics which formerly were presented to predict this flood have now been corroborated, in many instances, by record-breaking enrollments in institutions of higher education. Total registrations in the nation’s colleges and universities, affected by heavy increases in the birthrate and by a growing demand for educational services, rose from 2,650,000 in 1950 to 3,750,000 in 1960.
In view of the pressing need for a well educated leadership and for an informed membership in the church, it is depressing that a corresponding increase in enrollments has not been reported by those colleges which are Christian in the evangelical sense. Some of these institutions have had a modest growth and others are filled to capacity. But there are also a number of Christian schools which find it necessary to spend large sums of money to recruit students—and despite this expenditure they still have space in dormitories and classrooms for additional students.
This inability to expand has serious financial implications for certain Christian colleges. Moreover, it may indicate a waning strength on the part of these institutions and point to increasing difficulties in the future. Interested and competent observers have predicted that some of the weaker four-year Christian colleges may pass from the scene during the next decade or two. It would seem reasonable to assume that the craft which will not float during the flood will be stranded at the first diminution of the tide.
One of the chief contributing causes to the low rate of growth in some Christian colleges is the growing preference of the American college student for training in a public institution of higher learning. Although all higher education in this country was once under private auspices, the situation is radically altered today; tax-supported institutions have steadily increased in size and influence through the years. The break-even point came in 1947–48 when private and public colleges conferred about the same number of first professional degrees, that is, the bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. By 1958–59, however, public institutions conferred nearly 55 per cent of all such degrees. If the present rate of change continues, public colleges and universities may well graduate 80 per cent of all post-secondary students by 1980.
Where Are The Students Going?
Why do students choose state schools over private Christian colleges? To this question prospective students give a number of answers. State schools, they say, have lower tuitions, better social life, and greater personal freedom. These responses can be met by the Christian college by an appeal to its special character and purpose. Another student observation, however, is one which cannot be answered quite so readily, and that is: I cannot get the courses I need in a Christian college.
The crux of the situation lies in the simple fact that today’s citizen expects a wider variety of services from higher education than most small colleges have been able or willing to provide. These services are offered at public institutions and the student plans accordingly.
Recent studies concerning motivational factors in college entrance indicate that, particularly with boys, college aspirations are often expressed in terms of vocational goals. Young men speak of going to medical school, to law school, or to engineering school rather than to a particular institution. That this initial intention is often realized is witnessed by the distribution by fields of the degrees awarded in the various four-year institutions in the United States for any current year. The distribution for 1958–59 was as follows:
The bachelor’s degree in education is ordinarily awarded to those who have majored in teaching on the elementary school level, and it is not surprising to find that 70 per cent of these are women. However, 93 per cent of the business and commerce degrees, nearly 100 per cent of the engineering degrees, 71 per cent of the social science degrees, and 63 per cent of the degrees in the health professions were conferred upon men. Most of these latter areas are not ordinarily emphasized in Christian colleges.
One hundred years ago both the formally educated and the uneducated had good prospects for personal success somewhere in American society. At that time, technical knowledge had not outstripped man’s ability to master a field in his lifetime. Today the proliferation of knowledge is so vast that it is all a man can do to keep abreast of the general trends in a single field, and to develop some skill in one branch of that. This is the age of specialists and of experts. In this context, higher education must not only disseminate the rapidly expanding body of knowledge, but must also provide the facilities for further research. However, the courses currently required to equip men and women with the specialized knowledges and skills for this task are not offered in many Christian colleges. As a result, young believers who feel called to serve the Lord in business or industry are often compelled to enroll in secular institutions which lack the peculiar benefits which attach to the climate of Christian schools.
Another Competitor Is Rising
A further threat to the security of the smaller Christian college is the increasingly popular community college. Up to now, many of these institutions have gained the larger part of their tuition fees from freshman and sophomore students. After these two years, large scale dropouts occur due to financial or academic difficulties, to marriage, and to transfer to larger schools which offer needed courses and greater academic and professional privileges.
Inasmuch as the community college provides for these first two years of college work, and often does so without tuition cost while the student continues to live at home, the Christian college will doubtless feel this competition. By attracting new students and by diverting others from the four-year institutions, the junior college is expected sometime during the 1970’s to account for perhaps one out of every three first-time college enrollees. How many potential Christian college students will be siphoned into these schools should be a matter of purposeful concern.
The Financial Picture
Student recruitment, however, is only one of the many problems of college administration today. Financial crises are common. While several well-filled institutions are in a position to deal selectively with applicants, and have been able to raise tuition rates somewhat realistically, many less fortunate schools have had to face the competition of state colleges and even of fellow schools. To meet this pressure they, therefore, may peddle learning at bargain rates—but certainly not because they can afford to do so financially.
Even high tuition charges cannot cover a student’s full expense to the college. Gifts and grants are necessary in any institution to make up the difference between the cost and selling price of higher education, and also to provide for capital needs. Except for government aid (which contributes little or nothing to small, private institutions) financial assistance to higher education comes principally from business, from alumni, and from other individuals. How much can the average Christian college expect to receive from each of these sources?
A survey conducted by the National Industrial Conference Board of the contributions of 280 companies for the year 1959 revealed that only.42 per cent of the $98.6 million reported went to religious causes. It is well known that many corporations discount all requests for assistance from institutions that have religious affiliations, and this discrimination applies to non-denominational Christian schools as well. There is, however, a growing voice in some educational circles for the return of spiritual content to learning; it may be, therefore, that an appeal may yet be formulated which will tap the resources of business and industry for evangelical institutions. At the same time, it is unrealistic to imagine that corporations will invest their funds in ventures that appear to be poorly organized, impractical, and likely to fail. Business does not ordinarily contribute money on the basis of need; rather it underwrites promising ventures that have challenging goals. At the moment, business is devoting very little to the Christian college.
Alumni giving, a form of “living endowment,” is disappointing in the smaller Christian college. Even where the percentage of response to the annual fund appeal is good, the total income derived in this manner is usually small compared to the needs of the institution. Some of the smaller schools are of recent origin and, therefore, have few alumni. Moreover, many of these Christian college alumni are missionaries and ministers whose work is not ordinarily highly remunerative.
The remaining financial resource for the small institution lies in those individuals who have been blessed with a sense of divine stewardship. Among these are the many, who have little of this world’s goods, and the few, who have more than a little. To develop a broad-based program of support from many donors of small gifts is expensive, and requires the talents of an expert. Efforts to secure large individual contributions may also call for professional assistance. However they may be secured, gifts from individual donors are at this time the most hopeful prospect for the smaller college.
The Problem Of Faculty
A third aspect of the dilemma facing the Christian college today concerns faculty. As their financial security becomes uncertain, professors may yield to offers of better remuneration in other institutions or in business. One must be deeply thankful that because of a spirit of loyalty and dedication to Christ and to his appointment good professors have often elected to remain with their struggling institutions. At the same time it must be remembered that, in many cases, this dedication is equivalent to an annual contribution of several thousand dollars.
It is impractical to suppose, however, that quality teaching can be maintained under such circumstances. Institutions which have managed to hold their faculties are temporarily in good shape, but it will be increasingly difficult to replace those who die, retire, or leave, for anything like the same salaries. Someone has said that institutions die hard, and this may indeed be true of colleges. But their fate would be worse than death itself it the quality of instruction ultimately reached the level of the usual salary scale of professors!
While these problems are not the only ones faced by the Christian college they are certainly among the most pressing. To solve, or even to alleviate these particular difficulties would help in resolving some of the others also.
The situation today calls for thoughtful and deliberate cooperation, intelligent, long-range planning, and prompt action by those institutions which are determined not only to survive, but also to meet the demands of the hour in an energetic manner. The most valuable and essential resource at this time is consecrated courage to face the situation realistically, and to exercise the proper measures in good time.
Ideas, Vision And Action
Obviously most institutions do not individually possess the resources to make surveys, hire experts, and construct adequate plans for their long-term growth. Moreover, they cannot singly and independently plan a comprehensive program to meet the needs of the entire Christian community. By working together, however, a number of them could cooperatively chart the activities of the several institutions with great profit for all concerned. Through a diversity of curriculum on the part of the many, and specialization on the part of the few, an academic program of quality and depth could be realized to utilize the resources of all the schools and vitalize their function in the society of believers.
The extent and complexity of the problems involved make it quite unlikely that any one individual can depict the one “best” proposal for engaging evangelical institutions in a cooperative effort. In the interests of evoking further discussion, however, and in anticipation of some possible action we offer the following suggestions for earnest consideration:
1. Let some qualified person, institution or agency call together the presidents of the Christian colleges, along with representatives front their boards of control and of their faculties to delineate the needs and challenges of Christian higher education.
2. Let these educational leaders determine an appropriate plan of action and a program for its implementation.
3. Let the plan and program include such items as the following: a survey of the human resources, both of students and faculty, of all the schools represented; a study of those subjects or fields not currently offered in the curricula of the Christian colleges; and an exploration of possible cooperation with community junior colleges in complementing the lower division work of those institutions.
4. Let the plan and program indicate a division of labor among the Christian colleges whereby the desires of all the boards and faculties, the abilities, geographic and other variables would help determine which institutions are best prepared to handle given specializations and responsibilities.
5. Let these institutions anticipate further consultation and cooperation to evaluate and to adapt the program in terms of changing conditions and needs.
From the complex of evangelical colleges this endeavor should produce at least one, and perhaps several, Christian schools where Christian young people could secure the instruction, guidance, and training they consider necessary for their vocational and professional aspirations. The Christian community as a whole would benefit from this expansion, and also the individual institution. Through the specialization it chose to develop, each college would profit from others’ increased support.
Such a venture would not require participating institutions to surrender any of their special distinctives. Each school would continue to operate under its own board and according to the guiding principles of its own charter. Both in curricular and extra-curricular pursuits each college would practice its own characteristic program of living Christianity.
No doubt considerable labor and expense would be involved in conducting the basic studies and surveys. It is possible, however, that a cooperative program as indicated above might be endorsed and supported by one or more philanthropic foundations. At least, such assistance should be sought.
Some Christian colleges have found it helpful to work cooperatively in fund raising through an organization such as the Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges. Others have cooperated in sports and in efforts toward accreditation. However, the need at this time is for cooperation along academic lines. Strong secular institutions have found it advantageous to cooperate in meeting present educational needs. Certainly, then, Christian colleges have even greater need to do so. Perhaps, in view of the scriptural admonitions to unity in the Body of Christ, Christian colleges have also the greater motivating purpose.
