by Katherine O'Brien ThD Cand., Certified College Planning Specialist, Founder of Celtic College Consultants
As a Catholic and a college consultant, I have a particular vantage point. I am writing today to tell you that there is hope on the horizon.
The Church is always dying and birthing. New orders and ministries, dioceses, parishes, insights, and ways of following Christ are being born, founded, and beginning their journeys. Some will last for centuries, others will bring light for a shorter time. Other orders, ministries, etc. are dying, closing, ending. This has always been the case. Just as flowers in a garden come up and bloom at different times of the year, sharing their beauty and grandeur for a time, before they fade, recede, and die, making way for a new flower to bloom, so it is in the Church.
While many have lamented the decline of the number of religious brothers and sisters, the closing of various convents and monasteries, new orders, institutes, and ways of living a consecrated life have sprung up, too.
In the college world, the same is happening. Since the Land o’ Lakes conference in 1970, when Catholic Colleges basically declared themselves independent of the Church and able to exercise freedom as universities, the tenor of Catholic-run institutions of higher education has shifted. Some are historically Catholic, that is founded by Catholics, possibly retaining a Catholic name, but no longer having a mission in line with the Church’s. These schools don’t require courses in Catholic philosophy or theology; you can take intro to Buddhism for your religion requirement, for example. While ideologically distant from their initial missions, these schools tend to be very strong with respect to social justice and community service efforts, which is certainly laudable.
Other schools are more mixed. They have some Catholic course offerings and some Catholic sensibilities will be evident on their campuses. The Blessed Sacrament might be reserved in several chapels, for example. However, their focus, their identity, their emphasis as a college is less distinctively Catholic. These are the schools that non-Catholic students might be leery of, thinking they will be put off by the Catholicity of the place. These students are relieved when they find that their fears are unwarranted; other than a few vestiges here and there, they will not encounter Catholicism in any forceful way.
A third category of colleges is the robustly Catholic schools. These schools pride themselves on their efforts to incorporate Catholicism in all of their courses, their dorm and student life policies, in the way they handle admissions and financial aid, etc. Often their daily Masses are chock full of students.
As promised at the beginning, there are some new shoots, new flowerings happening in higher education. First, among the historically Catholic and less than robustly Catholic colleges and universities, the same sort of struggles and shifts happening overall in higher education are evident. Some of these schools will close; others will merge in an effort to stay open. Some have found a niche and seem to be doing okay. A few, particularly those that have more selective admissions policies and a higher profile, with top rankings, for example, continue to grow and develop new programs and offerings, build new buildings, and the like. Amongst the robustly Catholic schools, there is slow, steady growth, as well as some exciting new developments. While Magdalene College has finally shuttered, John Paul the Great Catholic University is thriving. These newer colleges have been or will be joined by some brand new schools. College of St. Joseph the Worker, in Steubenville, has just begun. San Damiano College in Springfield, IL and Rosary College in Greenville, SC will open within the next year. St. Joseph’s and San Damiano are thrilling new offerings as they both offer a blended program: Great Books AND trades (electrician, carpenter, plumber, welder, etc.) What a boon to us all! They will produce some very well formed young men (and a few women) who will anchor families and communities. Rosary College is a two-year liberal arts college in the Benedictine Catholic tradition. Their program is accessible online and in person. All three of these are lay led initiatives
On the graduate level, two other lay led institutions must be mentioned. The Augustine Institute is in the process of moving to the St. Louis area where it will be poised to expand. In addition to their master’s degrees in Catholic theology, pastoral theology, biblical studies, and Catholic education, they plan to add a master’s in evangelization and a doctorate in theology. With their new facilities, the Institute will also be able to offer retreats and conferences. With over 500 students, the Augustine Institute is the largest graduate school in Catholic theology in the US. They also offer certificates for Catholic educators. Pontifex University, a completely online school, offers master’s degrees in sacred arts, Catholic theology, and education in Catholic schools and a doctorate of theological studies. They also offer several certificate programs. They have over 100 students in their doctoral program (including myself). They also offer a number of certificate programs.
These five lay led colleges and universities are signs of hope as are the 300 or so strong Catholic campus ministries. I addition to them, many of the robustly Catholic schools are growing, increasing their student body size and the majors and programs they offer, particularly in engineering fields.
Lastly, I will mention the wonderful Catholic campus ministries available on many non-Catholic campuses. Some, like St. John’s at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, have a Catholic dormitory as well as a robust campus ministry program. Indeed, there is a great deal to rejoice about in the college world.
Information about all the colleges and universities with strong Catholic communities on campus (both robustly Catholic colleges and non-Catholic schools), get a copy of Every Catholic's Guide to College, available here on Amazon. The guide includes an index by major, as well as admissions, aid, campus ministry, and majors and program information for over 300 colleges and universities that met certain criteria!
