Which College for Youth?
by
Dallas M. Roark
GEORGE HEAVED a sigh of regret as he came to my study desk.
"If I had my life to live over, I would do some things differently,~ he said.
"How so?" I inquired.
"Well, for one thing, I would have gone to an accredited college! " he replied.
George spent five years at an unaccredited Bible school working on a bachelor's degree in theology. He transferred then to a college that would accept only part of his work, and he put in another year and a half before finally receiving an accredited BA. After six and one-half years George, now admitted to graduate school, lamented, "After all that time I still don't have a solid undergraduate foundation."
An Accredited College
George is typical of many young peopIe who are inexperienced and shortsighted about their academic future. Many seek a short·cut to education, and there is none. Nowhere is this attempt more acute than for those who plan to enter the ministry. Many feel that a Bible school training is sufficient. Others feel they must go to Bible school before going to a "secular" university in an effort to safeguard their faith so that they can become solid Christian laymen in whatever area of life they pursue. After an experience of eight years of collegiate study, there is one bit of counsel I would offer young people: Select an accredited, small Christian college in which to do your academic work.
Accreditation goes a long way. Many young people feel that an accredited degree is not too important. If you get the knowledge and degree nobody is going to ask whether it's accredited or not. But even the so-called separatistic colleges-who often cared little for accreditation-are seeking and boasting of their accreditation. They now use it as a lure 'for prospective students.
Accreditation will do at least two things for you. First, if you seek to transfer from an unaccredited college to an accredited one, you are limited in: your choice because some colleges will not receive your work at all; and others will accept only a limited amount. The student who enters a Bible school and later wants to go to college will suffer here. There are a few Bible schools which have working relationships with accredited colleges where a student may go, but this still places a limitation on the student's choice.
Second, if your school is unaccredited and you wish to do graduate work, there is an additional problem. A young man was graduated with a Master of Theology degree from an unaccredited seminary. He wanted to work on a Ph.D in a state university. His master's degree was not accepted. Fortunately, he had a BA. from an accredited Baptist school and
and he was admitted on that basis.
To put the problem of accreditation concretely, look at another young man. Last year he received his B.A. from an accredited college. He did not get it in. four years like most young people. The year he received his B.A. was his ninth year of undergraduate work. He wasn't dumb! He jumped from one unaccredited school to another and had to put in one and a half year's work at the accredited college before he received his degree. He had enough hours to receive both the Ph.D and Th.D from any university. Had he begun with an accredited school he would be an' established scholar now.
A Christian College
Small private school versus large state school. This question has been debated over and over, but there are some factors in favor of the small private school.
It is often said that you are a number and not a name in the larger schools. This is true in many respects particularly in the first two years of college just when the student needs the most personal counsel and help. In the freshman year, you are among the two or three thousand or more freshmen. A class in history may have from three hundred to five hundred students. Instead of the personal contact with the professor, you are placed in the often unconcerned care of a graduate student who is pushed for time-he's a student too! The only real contact you have with the professor is the lecture once or twice a week, or when you want his signature on a drop-his-course slip.
In the smaller college, on the contrary, you have contact with the professor in the small classroom. He knows you, and you can know him. You do not have to put up with a graduate student who may or may not know the subject matter. Classes are small and you are not a nonentity as far as the professor is concerned.
There are other advantages socially and athletically: but assuming that college is for education, the great advantage is that one has a better chance for sympathetic instruction in the smaller college.
Why a Christian college? The aim of a Christian college is the impartation of knowledge in a Christian atmosphere. It is the attempt to consecrate culture to the service of God. One can ignore culture, or become submissive to it, but the Christian college attempts to consecrate it and use it for the glory of God and the good of mankind. The ideal Christian college is one where the professors in all departments are not only scholars in their fields but Christians also.
This is the aim of our Baptist colleges. There should be no separation of faith and knowledge, but both should work together for Christ who is the Truth.
The advantage over the secular college on is that the Christian faith is held in high esteem. One often feels that professors in some state schools are antagonistic to the Christian faith simply because they assume it to be part of being a "scholar." This does not mean that young people in the Christian college are to be sheltered from materialism and other "isms." On the contrary, through study under the guidance of concerned men and women they will formulate their own world view which is both Christian and cogent. By grappling with of issues which challenge their faith, they will become stronger Christians.
Which college for youth? Make it an accredited Christian college!
(This article appear in Youth Leader, January 1961