The value proposition of higher education by and large is under question in many circles. Within the biblical worldview, there seem to be two competing ideas: an aversion to debt and a hope that we can better our lives through learning and education according to biblical principles. In today’s culture, these seem conflicting. Is Christian Higher Education worth it? What could possibly make this considerable expense valuable enough to justify the investment?
Christian Education is worth it! It can accomplish what no other form of education can by connecting a person to the soul and mind. The world can teach, train, and equip a student for a job. Yet fails to give a satisfying answer to the question of why it is important to be taught, trained, and equipped for a job in the first place.
Christian Education enables a student to contribute to a cause they are passionate about. Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives, even when faced with death.”
While, contextually, this talks about believers overcoming the enemy of their souls, it is not stretching the text to point out this verse shows us there are causes, namely the glory and honor of God, that are worth our lives. If what a student dedicates their life to does not outlast their life, how can that be seen as an investment and not merely a short-lived transaction? We have the opportunity, as Christian educators, to teach our students how to invest in the kingdom that will last for eternity.
Christian Education also provides a fully orbed educational gateway that propels students into opportunities that would not be available to them otherwise, like economic stability. The Council on Christian Colleges and Universities commissioned a study in March of 2018[1]that showed Christian Higher Education pumps over $60 billion into the national economy each year. In 2017, USA Today said, “College graduates, on average, earned 56% more than high school grads in 2015, according to data compiled by the Economic Policy Institute. That was up from 51% in 1999 and is the largest such gap in EPI’s figures dating to 1973.”[2]While these statistics are for all colleges, secular and Christian, they affirm the idea that students at Christian colleges are in no way at a disadvantage in the job market.
The real question to investigate is not, “What will I get for the money I pay to have a Christian Education,” it is, “What will I forfeit if I do not invest in an education from a biblical worldview?”
In short, yes, it is worth it to join with the hundreds of thousands of students and families who are in Christian colleges and universities. Together, we can change the world for Him who gave His life for it!
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[1]https://www.cccu.org/news-updates/new-study-reveals-economic-impact-christian-higher-ed/
[2]https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/12/pay-gap-between-college-grads-and-everyone-else-record/96493348/
photo/Alexa Miller
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