There is a lot of debate over whether going to college is worthwhile or cost-effective in a general sense, and while I do have many thoughts about that, it isn’t the purpose of this post. I would like to address specifically the idea of young Christians attending college. Here and there I have known Christian parents who, having read statistics about how many young people walk away from Christianity during college, understandably fret over the thought of their own children doing so. They have heard stories (often accentuated by Conservative media) of hostile atheistic professors whose goal it is to de-convert all of their religious students and indoctrinate them into their own materialistic worldview. Combine this with other factors such as the high cost of tuition and the many options for making a decent living without a degree, and many Christian parents may conclude that they would prefer their kids avoid college entirely.
To begin to address this topic I would like to share a little about my own experience in college, though, admittedly, each individual experience will be different and mine doesn’t suggest that others will be necessarily similar. I liked most of my professors and was fortunate that nearly all of them went out of their way to teach students not what to think, but how to think. My Ethics professor, for example, entirely avoided telling us his own opinion on each moral dilemma, prompting us to form (and adequately defend) our own viewpoint. My English Composition professor described himself as the most liberal professor in the department, and yet he never pushed those views on the class and fairly graded papers arguing from a more conservative perspective, based only on the quality of the essay. I’m sure there were some professors with a low opinion of Christianity, but if so, they were still balanced and respectful in the way that they taught. And I even had some Christian professors!
As I said, I was very fortunate to have the experience I did, and I will readily admit that not everyone is so fortunate. I have no doubt that some professors are much more openly hostile towards Christianity and less fair in their treatment of Christian students. But at the very least my experience serves as reassurance that at least this is not a universal condition.
Still, even in the case of a much more hostile environment, as Christians we cannot simply hide from such hostility. Often it is overlooked that no matter what, throughout our lives we will find ourselves in environments (and around people) that are hostile to our beliefs (unless we hid in a cabin in the woods for the rest of our lives). Anyone who avoids college will not succeed in avoiding hostility to Christianity. As we enter the workforce, make friends, become involved in hobbies, or travel, we will encounter harmful influences. Whether or not we go to college will not change this. The advantage of college is that in many cases it is an environment in which we are already focused on learning how to form solid viewpoints and defend them, so it is an excellent opportunity to turn this focus towards our own Christian beliefs. In fact, it was primarily in college that I developed the critical thinking and research skills that helped me become fully persuaded of the truth of Christianity. And, if handled correctly, the exposure to alternative worldviews is an indispensable opportunity for Christians to gain a better understanding of the unsaved and reach them far more effectively.
Ultimately, the key is to be prepared. If our kids are considering college, we should not be dissuading them from going into a potentially hostile environment, but preparing them for that environment, knowing that they will encounter such hostility at some point whether they go to college or not. In many cases, when young people walk away from God after attending college, it’s not because of the environment, but because they lacked a firm foundation for their beliefs before they ever set foot on campus. They were brought up believing what they were told about God and the Bible, but the evidence for the truth of Christianity may never have been shared with them, and perhaps they were never even made familiar with other worldviews and beliefs. Often, when they had tough questions about Christianity, they were given ineffective answers (or none at all!) and told to simply believe. In such cases it is little wonder that they then become so confused when they suddenly encounter many clashing worldviews and are ill-equipped to process them and defend their own beliefs.
Another argument against Christians avoiding college as a rule is the fact that the result ultimately would be a lack of Christians in all of the fields that require a degree. I’m sure we would all agree that it would be a problem not to have Christian doctors, lawyers, financial professionals, professors, or other professionals. This would accomplish nothing except to further cut off people in these fields from Christian influence, and perpetuate the problem that caused some Christians to question attending college in the first place!
So, to conclude: should Christians go to college? I believe this is not the right question at all. The decision to pursue a college degree should not be made based on the fact that we are Christians, but simply on whether the career we are aiming for would require or benefit from a degree. But we should not hide in fear. And no matter where we go and what choices we make in life, we must always expect and be prepared to encounter and engage with opposing viewpoints, and to defend our own beliefs.
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