CCCU in the News

The colleges and universities that form the membership of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities often are featured in news stories for their innovative programs, academic prestige and work to bolster the movement of Christ-centered higher education. Here are some of the articles that mention CCCU members and affiliates. 

• CCCU Comments Regarding Department of Education June 18, 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  Filed August 2,  2010
• Constitutional and Unwise
  Inside Higher Ed
  By Shapri D. LoMaglio
  July 6, 2010
  As an association representing institutions of higher learning, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities is sensitive to the claims of institutional autonomy presented by the Hastings College of the Law in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. However, as the institutions within our organization are religious in nature, we are also acutely aware of the religious freedom concerns presented by this case. MORE
• Believing in God and Evolution
  Inside Higher Ed
  October 14, 2009
  An anti-evolution group is capturing headlines with its plans to distribute a special edition of The Origin of Species to tens of thousands of college students at secular universities next month, hoping that an introduction that promotes creationism will change the views of those who read it. But while that group is fighting for the hearts and minds of students at secular colleges and universities, there is also a theological and scientific struggle taking place at Christian colleges. MORE
• Who says Religion is boring?
  The Baltimore Sun
  July 19, 2009
  It was the kind of story that cried out to be told. Or so Terry Mattingly thought.
  It was 1982, and a little-known punk band from Ireland was touring U.S. colleges for the first time, rattling from town to town in an old panel truck. Mattingly, then a music writer for a small Illinois paper, was intrigued by the chorus from a song on their new album. The lyrics were, of all things, in Latin - gloria in te domine, gloria exultate - and appeared to have been taken from an ancient Mass. MORE
• Creation Care
  Center for American Progress
  November 13, 2008
  Lauren Kras spent the spring of her junior year at Messiah College planting a garden. "We really wanted to put forward eating locally," she says. "You could do something in your own backyard that could cut down your energy usage and put you back in touch with the earth." The garden project was the creation of Earthkeepers, a small environmental club on this evangelical college campus in central Pennsylvania. MORE
• Christian campuses play more visible role in campaigns
  Medill Reports
  November 3, 2008
  The 2008 presidential campaign will be remembered for feeling like one of the longest in history. But it may also be remembered for the visible role that Christian colleges played, going back at least to June 2007.That’s when Eastern University outside Philadelphia co-sponsored a forum with Sojourners for Democratic candidates to discuss faith, values and politics. MORE 
• Cleveland: Faith-Based Growth
  Chattanooga Times Free Press
  October 6, 2008
  This fall Lee University enrolled the largest freshman class in the school’s history. While the college’s student body has grown significantly over the past 20 years, officials say Lee appeals to a growing interest in affordable, faith-based higher education. MORE
• A Semester Abroad ... in Tinseltown
  The Los Angeles Times
  October 6, 2008
  Forget about Paris and a semester at the Sorbonne. Who needs to study in Florence or struggle with Mandarin for just months in Beijing? Instead, consider the allure of Burbank and the nearby Oakwood apartments. Think about Los Angeles' Wilshire district and the chance to speak like a Hollywood agent.
  MORE
• Welcome, Freshman. Have an iPod.
  The New York Times
  August 20, 2008
  Taking a step that professors may view as a bit counterproductive, some universities are doling out Apple iPhones and Internet-capable iPods to students. The always-on Internet devices raise some novel possibilities, like tracking where students congregate. With far less controversy, colleges could send messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or just the cafeteria menu. MORE
• Will Colleges Friend Facebook?
  Inside Higher Education
  August 19, 2008
  As colleges have worked over the years to solidify their Web 2.0 presence and reach out to students where they’re most likely to congregate online, there’s often a glaring omission from their overall Internet strategies: social networks. That’s not so much an oversight as a hesitation, with many institutions still debating whether to adopt social networking capabilities of their own or grit their teeth and take the plunge into Facebook, with all the messiness and potential privacy concerns that would imply. MORE
• Christian Colleges Grow More Diverse
  Inside Higher Education
  August 15, 2008
  Historically, the evangelical colleges that comprise the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities have not been magnets for many black students. A new analysis from The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education suggests that’s changing, with some Protestant colleges recording staggering increases in black student enrollments over the last decade. MORE
• 2008 Great Colleges to Work For
  The Chronicle for Higher Education
  July 14, 2008
  Indiana Wesleyan University, Gordon College and Regent University are featured as top schools in the Chronicle's annual report. The survey, taken from more than 15,000 administrators, faculty and staff, highlights colleges and universities succeeding in good administration/faculty relationships, work/life balance, salary and benefits and other categories. IWU is featured as a success story for its innovative programs in promoting balance between work and life. For that story, click HERE.
• What Would Jesus Do (In College)?
  Inside Higher Education
  By Elizabeth Redden
  June 30, 2008
  In 2006, Eastern Mennonite University cracked a list of top colleges for “conservatives, old-fashioned liberals, and people of faith.” It was a dubious distinction. The Virginia university, coming out of a pacifist tradition, names “peace and sustainability” as core values.MORE
• Indiana Wesleyan to House National Adult Learning Center
  Inside Indiana Business
  June 17, 2008
  Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) has been chosen as the home for an international center to study adult learning. The institution has started a national search for an executive director for the Research Center in Adult Learning, which will be a joint effort between IWU and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. The center will focus on programs and services for the adult community's professional and lifelong learning needs. MORE
• A Christian University puts faith in its professors
  The Chronicle for Higher Education
  By Beckie Supiano
  May 2, 2008
  Jennifer Stafford Brown thought she was an old pro at applying for jobs. "I've written probably 300 cover letters," she says. "I know how to write a cover letter."
  But when Ms. Brown applied for a position at Whitworth University, a Presbyterian institution in Spokane, Wash., she was asked for something more: a personal statement of faith. MORE
• Students Expand Horizons, Study Abroad
  Today's Pentecostal Evangel
  By Jocelyn Green
  September 9, 2007
  “USP opened my eyes to issues I had never encountered,” says Charity Kinney, senior at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. “My worldview has expanded; I have grown so much spiritually and intellectually. I’ve learned to ask the right questions and to truly rely on God for the answers.”   MORE>>
• Christian Colleges' Green Revolution
  Christianity Today
  By Cindy Crosby
  May 25, 2007
  Integrating creation care with academics is a growing emphasis on Christian campuses around the country. According to Paul Corts, president of the interdenominational Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), about 40 of 105 North American member schools have adopted significant green initiatives. These vary considerably, from multimillion-dollar sustainable "villages" and student volunteer educational programs to majors in environmental studies and recycling pop cans in school cafeterias. There is also national action.   MORE
• BestSemester Program Provides Real World Experience
  Relevant Magazine
  By Hannah Fischer
  March 1, 2007 
  Picture your ideal semester. Are you exploring the diversity of ancient Chinese culture and global commerce in Beijing and Shanghai? Trying your hand at directing films with the latest high-def video equipment in Hollywood? Spending hours writing and recording original music at a world-class facility on Martha’s Vineyard? How about discussing the events in the Middle East with your contemporaries who are attending the world’s most renowned Muslim university in Cairo?   MORE
• Christian College Grows Roots Abroad
  Inside Higher Ed
  By Elizabeth Redden
  The fall of the Soviet Union hasn’t changed everything in Moscow. It took the Russian-American Christian University five years to get a building permit. When its new, 46,000-square-foot facility opens in December, seven years will have passed since the process started. On the other hand, the fact that a permanent facility for a university with backing from American Christian colleges is opening in Moscow at all suggests that some things have changed, albeit sometimes slowly.   MORE
• A More Porous Church-State Wall
  Inside Higher Ed
  By Scott Jaschik
  March 14, 2007
  Last week saw two court rulings and one campus dispute focused on church and state. In all three cases — and in several others in the last year — advocates for religion won, and supporters of a strict separation of church and state lost.   MORE
• Muslim, Jewish Scholars: More 'Jesus' Talk Needed
  ChristianPost.com
  By Michelle Vu
  Feb. 5, 2007
  World renowned scholars representing Islam, Judaism and Christianity emphasized the need for more Jesus talk and Jesus action in conflict resolutions, noting that the world cannot afford a war between Christians and Muslims - who together make up half the world’s population.   MORE
• Spiritual Accountability
  InsideHigherEd.com
  By Elizabeth Redden
  Feb. 1, 2007
  How to make the seemingly subjective experience of faith objective, to measure a college student’s spiritual growth as you would a child’s height, with penciled marks noting an inch here, an inch there, on a four-foot paper ruler taped to the president’s door?   MORE
• More Christian Sectors Tackling AIDS Head-On
  ChristianPost.com
  By Michelle Vu
  Dec. 1, 2006
  
  A word once shunned by churches is now overwhelmingly embraced as Christians mobilize to confront one of the world’s leading causes of death. Christians ranging from megachurch pastors to humanitarian workers to students are increasingly moving to the forefront in the battle against AIDS.   MORE
  
• Paul Corts on Christian Higher Education Month 2006
  UNI News
  By George Carden
  October 6, 2006
  Listen to audio clip
• How college has changed in the past 20 years
  Daily Herald
  Associated Press
  Sept. 5, 2006
  Enrollment skyrocketed from 135,000 in 1990 to 230,000 in 2004 at the 102 campuses that belong to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. That’s an increase of 70 percent. Enrollment at nonreligious private colleges grew only 28 percent, while enrollment at public universities increased by 13 percent over the same period.   MORE
• Faithfully Attaining a Lofty Stature
  South Florida Sun-Sentinel
  By Jennifer Peltz
  May 28, 2006
  WEST PALM BEACH - When Palm Beach Atlantic University talks about growth, it's often the spiritual kind.
  But the nondenominational Christian university also is expanding in many other dimensions these days.  MORE
• Evangelical colleges gaining popularity
  NWI Times
  By Dalia Hatuqa
  April 9, 2006
  Evangelical colleges and universities are making a comeback -- after years of lower enrollment -- a trend that some experts say reflects a increasing interest in religion and Christian values.   MORE
  
  
• Rising Tide of Applications Lifts Fortunes of Christian Colleges
  Washington Post
  By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
  March 25, 2006
  Evangelical Christian colleges are attracting record numbers of applications this year, a trend that bodes well for an educational niche that was struggling to survive a generation ago.  MORE
• More students choosing faith-based college life
  Study shows a 70 percent increase in enrollment since 1990
  Orlando Business Journal
  By Carlos Galarza
  March 19, 2006
  ORLANDO - Faith-based higher education programs in Central Florida are expanding to meet growing enrollment.  The local enrollment growth is part of a nationwide surge that has seen a jump of more than 70 percent in the number of students signing up for faith-based college programs since 1990.   MORE
  
• Record numbers flocking to Christian colleges
  Growth lets schools be more selective, curb tuition hikes
  Chicago Tribune
  By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
  March 10, 2006
  Evangelical Christian colleges are attracting record numbers of applications this year in a trend that bodes well for an educational niche that was struggling to survive just a generation ago.   MORE
  
  
• A Drive for Understanding
  Gays, Colleges Hope Tour Helps Dispel Mutual Stereotypes
  Washington Post
  By Michelle Boorstein
  March 11, 2006
  The meeting was a bit awkward. One side brought the other chocolates. People wore big name tags and fussed over one another, saying "Hi" effusively and smiling broadly. Clumsy jokes were made -- but everyone laughed. There were long silences.   MORE
  
• Gay Rights Group Targets Christian Colleges
  Schools' responses to Soulforce's Equality Ride will vary widely
  Christianity Today.com
  By Sarah Pulliam
  March 9, 2006
  For the next seven weeks, the group Soulforce will test the hospitality of Christian colleges. Some schools have decided withdraw the welcome mat for the national pro-gay activist group, while others are accommodating the protesters with housing and events.   MORE
• Some American Evangelicals Call for Action to Stop Global Warming
  VOA News
  By Bill Rodgers
  Feb. 22, 2006
  Some prominent American evangelical leaders have launched a campaign to persuade their congregants that more needs to be done to stop global warming.   MORE
  * Watch the interview with CCCU President Bob Andringa on VOA News
• Christian Colleges Blessed with Enrollment Surge
  Argus Leader
  By Jill Callisson
  Feb. 4, 2006
  After 2 1/2 years at a public university, Dave Klyn started over. Klyn had decided he could better reach his goal of becoming an elementary school teacher by finishing his education at a Christian college.   MORE
• Faith, Scholarship and the College Classroom
  InsideHigherEd.com
  Feb. 1, 2006
  By Ronald P. Mahurin
  The unprecedented enrollment growth of faith-based higher education is a curiosity to some, and a complete mystery to others. Particularly among intentionally Christ-centered schools, the enrollment rate of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities member institutions has outpaced the rest of higher education by more than 42 percent during the decade of the 1990s.   MORE
• Study Shows Small Christian Colleges Becoming More Popular Choice
  American Family Radio
  Jan. 11, 2006
  By Jim Brown
  Statistics show a growing number of students are opting to attend small Christian colleges and universities instead of large public institutions.   MORE
• Christian College Enrollment Growth - KWAVE Radio
  Jan. 5, 2006
  CCCU President Bob Andringa talks with KWAVE Radio in California about enrollment growth trends in Christian higher education.
• Ivy League Schools See Rise in Evangelical Students
  ChristianPost.com
  Dec. 27, 2005
  By Audrey Barrick and Joseph Alvarez
  More Evangelicals are attending Ivy League universities where spiritual interest is growing more than ever, according to university faculty and campus fellowship officials.   MORE
• Students Bridge Science, Faith at Christian Colleges
  Chicago Tribune
  December 18, 2005
  By Lisa Anderson
  BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- As the battle over the teaching of biological evolution buffets public high schools, a more delicate challenge faces many of the nation's Christian colleges and universities: helping students bridge the growing gap between modern science and fundamentalist faith.   MORE
• Christian Colleges Rebound
  USA TODAY
  Dec. 15, 2005
  By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
  Rachel Friesen was on track to graduate debt-free from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs when she made a leap in 2004 that would instead land her about $40,000 in debt on commencement day.  MORE
• The Culture Wars of 2005
  InsideHigherEd.com
  Dec. 7, 2005
  By Scott Jaschik
  The conservative journal The New Criterion is the last place you’d expect to find any gratitude for Ward Churchill. But writing there this summer, Roger Kimball found a “bright side” to the controversial University of Colorado professor: He brought more scrutiny to higher education.    MORE
• On Christian campus, an all-embracing framework
  The Boston Globe
  Nov. 14, 2005
  By  Brian MacQuarrie
  WHEATON, Ill. -- The chapel at Wheaton College is jammed with all its 2,400 students for a compulsory midweek gathering. Baseball caps are turned backward, and sweatshirts, jeans, and denim make these collegians 30 miles west of Chicago indistinguishable from most of their peers across the country. But there is a distinction: The bowed heads, the silent prayers, and the robust Christian songs are an accepted part of campus life.   MORE
• CCCU Campuses Keep Hands Stretched to Katrina Victims
  The ChristianPost.com
  Oct. 27, 2005
  By Lilian Kwon
  In the wake of numerous disasters that have struck the nation within the past couple of months, including Monday's Hurricane Wilma, the nation has not pulled off from its generous contributions as aid continues to pour in.   MORE
• CCCU's BestSemester Program Engages Students in Multicultural World
  The ChristianPost.com
  October 26, 2005
  By Susan Wang
  Whether in Latin America, China, or right here in the United States, CCCU’s BestSemester program is offering students an opportunity to live, learn, and grow.
  The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, an association of more than 170 international institutions of Christ-centered education, sponsors off-campus opportunities for students under its BestSemester programs.   MORE
• Statistics Show More Students Want to Mix Spirituality and Education
  The Press Enterprise
  October 24, 2005
  By Marisa Agha
  A renewed interest in religion and spirituality nationwide has fueled unprecedented growth at some Inland-area faith-based colleges and universities.
  The new demand is particularly prevalent among Christian-centered campuses, mirroring a national revival in matters of faith.   MORE
• CCCU Enrollment Figures Surpass Other Higher Education Institutions
  ChristianPost.com
  October 11, 2005
  By Lillian Kwon
  Higher education institutions have experienced an increasing number of enrolled students over the past 14 years while member campuses of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) have taken the lead in growth among all four-year campuses.  MORE
• Congress Wades Into Campus Politics
  Republicans Push for Academic Bill of Rights To Ensure 'Dissenting Viewpoints' in Class
  Wall Street Journal
  October 4, 2005
  By June Kronholz
  WASHINGTON -- College campuses can be political hotbeds. And that has some members of Congress thinking they should get involved.
  Some Republicans are pushing a measure through the House of Representatives meant to ensure that students hear "dissenting viewpoints" in class and are protected from retaliation because of their politics or religion. Colleges say the measure isn't needed, but with Congress providing billions of dollars to higher education, they are worried.   MORE
• October Observed as Christian Higher Education Month
  ChristianPost.com
  October 3, 2005
  By Elaine Spencer
  October is Christian Higher Education month, and to celebrate its sixth year anniversary, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities created a website that showcases how Christian colleges and their alumni are benefiting society. 
  The Washington-based CCCU began Christian Higher Education Month in 1999, and by 2003, Congress passed a House Resolution recognizing the campaign. Through the month-long observance, the CCCU hopes to raise awareness about the gains in Christian education as well as recognize alumni who have made great contributions to society.  MORE
• Council for Christian Colleges & Universities Present Research Findings in New Publication
  ChristianPost.com
  Thursday, Sep. 15, 2005
  By Susan Wang
  In a new initiative to better serve its member institutions, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities recently launched a publication to summarize and distribute useful information from its development & research team.    MORE
• Christian Colleges Offer Free Tuition, Donations to Katrina-Affected Students
  ChristianPost.com
  September 12, 2005
  By Katherine T. Phan
  Member campuses of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) are helping students displaced by Hurricane Katrina in anyway they can, through extending fall registration dates, collecting donations for affected campuses, offering free fall tuition, and sending volunteer student teams to disaster areas, according to a report released by the Council.    MORE
• Faithful and True?
  World Magazine
  September 10, 2005, Vol. 20, No. 35
  by Gene Edward Veith
  She's bright, homeschooled, and devout. She is definitely college material. So her parents, having read about the relativism and debauchery of the nation's secular universities, send her to a Christian college.    MORE
• Interview: President of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
  ChristianPost.com
  July 12, 2005
  By Marion Kim
  Out of the 900 self-defined "religiously affiliated" colleges and universities, only 100 are qualified for membership in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).    MORE
• More Christians Flocking to Religious Media
  Secular news seen as biased and inaccurate
  The Dallas Morning News
  July 2, 2005
  By Colleen McCain Nelson
  DALLAS - When FamilyNet reported on the recent Miss Universe pageant, the Christian TV network edited out footage of the swimsuit competition.  When World magazine wrote about a church embroiled in controversy, the Christian publication noted that the "mainstream media had badly garbled the story."    MORE
• Academic Freedom Victory
  FrontPage Magazine
  June 24, 2005
  By Committee on Education and the Workforce
  Key House Republican leaders today welcomed news that a compromise has been reached between representatives of the higher education community and leading voices in the drive for freedom of speech, led by David Horowitz, who have been calling for enactment of an Academic Bill of Rights to protect students' rights on college campuses.    MORE
• Detente With David Horowitz
  Inside Higher Ed
  June 23, 2005
  By Scott Jaschik
  David Horowitz isn’t mentioned by name in a two-page statement being released today by 26 higher education organizations. But the statement, on “academic rights and responsibilities,” is a response to Horowitz’s “Academic Bill of Rights,” which many professors view as an assault on their rights.   MORE
• Higher, Higher Education
  USA Today
  June 22, 2005
  By Naomi Schaefer Riley
  For most high school seniors, going to a college that bans alcohol and premarital sex, and requires chapel once a week, seems like a raw deal. But the skills students absorb at religious colleges might be giving them an edge in the job market.   MORE
• Meet Gen M
  Not all colleges are the same. Religious colleges are churning out a different kind of graduate.
  National Review Online
  January 11, 2005
  Naomi Schaefer Riley, who's spent time at NR and the Wall Street Journal, writing for both, as well as writing for the Boston Globe, New York Times, and others, is author of the new book God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America. In it she reports on her travels to a variety of religious colleges in the U.S. In these schools, for the most part, red-state students are escaping the broader secular college to prepare to engage it. God on the Quad is about a movement on the rise, which you're soon to hear a lot more about.   MORE