Why I’m Optimistic About the Future of Christian Higher Education, and Why You Should Be Too

Frank E. Weller

Introduction

It’s no secret that higher education in America faces strong headwinds. Small, private colleges are especially vulnerable. According to Inside Higher Ed, in 2024 sixteen private colleges closed in America. Several were Christian colleges, including Eastern Nazarene College and Clarks Summit University. Restoration Movement affiliated colleges were not immune. Although Inside Higher Ed did not include Lincoln Christian University and Johnson University Florida in their listing, both closed in 2024.

Sienna Heights University, a Catholic institution in Michigan, and Trinity Christian College in suburban Chicago announced their closures at the end of the current academic year. According to Bloomberg as many as 370 private colleges in the U.S. could close or merge with another institution in the next decade.

The reason? Dwindling enrollment.

Demographically there are too few students and too many seats. Empty dorms and empty classrooms drain resources. Administrators, reluctant to cut programs and faculty, borrow from endowments, spending down assets until trustees are forced to decide—hang on until money and property are gone, or close, preserving assets for some other Kingdom cause, usually another university.

Confronting the “Enrollment Cliff”

This simple problem, declining enrollment, has a simple solution: grow the institution. Simple, but not easy. The deck is stacked against colleges demographically and perceptually.

Experts have long predicted an “enrollment cliff” due to the Global Financial Crisis that began in 2008. In Michigan, where the recession started earlier and lasted longer, families who could afford to do so moved out of state to find employment. They took their toddlers with them. Those who could not afford to move chose to delay starting families. Eighteen years later we’re facing demographic devastation with Michigan expecting 20% fewer high school graduates by 2041.

The enrollment cliff is exacerbated by high school graduates’ declining college-readiness scores. This at a time when many Americans souring on higher education.

Frustration With Higher Education

Some are reluctant to send their kids to college due to the high cost. The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) tracks the cost of higher education in America. In 2025 HEPI data showed an increase of 3.4% for the year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), commonly thought of as “inflation,” tracks increases in household goods and services. Last year, at 2.6%, the CPI was almost a point less than the HEPI. The HEPI has exceeded the CPI in nine of the last eleven years.6

A new Politico poll affirms that “only a quarter of Americans think college is worth the money, regardless of party … Overall, 62 percent of Americans said college isn’t worth it because it either costs too much or doesn’t provide enough benefits—a belief supported most by 18- to 24-year-olds and those aged 65 and up.”

Others are frustrated with colleges promoting activism over educating students. They point to institutions like Amherst College.

Founded in 1821 to prepare young men for ministry, Amherst annually hosts programs that encourage students to explore non-monogamous forms of sexual expression. First-year students are encouraged to attend one such event, Voices of the Class, which features sexualized skits and is held in Johnson Chapel. According to one report, “On the chapel’s chancel, students performed mock sex acts …. Other students pretended to do drugs and shared their ‘high thoughts.’”

Given the perceptions that college costs too much and is growing morally unhinged, some choose a cafeteria style digital education using YouTube videos, podcasts, and social media micro-courses. After all, AI will soon make traditional education obsolete, won’t it?

I Am Bullish on Higher Education—Christian Higher Education, That Is

The prognosis may be grim, but the very conditions that threaten higher education’s future may provide the perfect environment for Christian higher education to flourish—if we can effectively differentiate what we have to offer.

Colleges with a distinctly Christian mission are well positioned to gain students. Demographic and social headwinds that threaten secular schools may fill the sails of faith-forward colleges and universities.

In their 2025 Christian College Market Profile, the Center for Academic Faith and Flourishing (CAFF) cited the three most important characteristics both frequent and infrequent church attenders look for in a College: Christian character, academic excellence and affordable price.

This is good news for Great Lakes Christian College and our sister institutions.

Dr. Perry Glanzer is a researcher at Baylor University and the author of Christian Higher Education an Empirical Guide. His work evaluates how colleges and universities that profess to be Christian operationalize their Christian identity. Though a university might claim to be Christian in the brochure, his team assesses if that is lived out in the classroom, dormitory, and chapel. Out of 358 colleges in America, Glanzer ranked GLCC fifth in operationalizing Christian identity. Our sister Restoration Movement affiliated colleges all fared well in his study with four in Glanzer’s top twenty institutions.10

Our colleges also provide an exceptional education. At GLCC students learn from full-time faculty who all have earned terminal degrees or are in the process of earning them. Our institution boasts one of the world’s foremost experts on C.S. Lewis. Our professors are prolific authors. The are in demand as presenters at the Stone-Campbell Journal Conference. We are not unique. The same can be said of our sister institutions.

Our excellent education is also more affordable than other private institutions. The cost of tuition, fees, housing and food at GLCC is less than tuition only at other private, faith-based schools in our region. Great Lakes is not an outlier among Restoration Movement affiliated institutions. Each of our colleges and universities provide similar value compared to other private, faith-based colleges.

Authentic faith, academic excellence and affordability are important, but what makes Restoration Movement affiliated colleges stand out is the deep, personal investment staff and faculty make in students. That cannot be replicated in a self-directed educational program built around YouTube and podcasts.

Neither is Artificial Intelligence a substitute for personal mentoring. While some suggest AI will make traditional college extinct, its growing pervasiveness makes our approach to education even more important. Literature professor Michael Clune notes, “The most responsible way for colleges to prepare students for the future is to teach AI skills only after building a solid foundation of basic cognitive ability and advanced disciplinary knowledge.” The critical thinking skills we foster and the mentoring and community we provide are paramount in the age of AI.

Colleges like ours are well-positioned to confront these new realities. But while we provide an attractive option for families seeking an authentically Christian, high-quality education at an affordable price, we’re still likely to fail if students and parents don’t know we exist. So how do we market our strengths?

How do we respond?

The Center for Faithfulness and Flourishing was established to “empower Christian colleges and universities to advance their faith-based missions, equip campus leaders with the resources necessary to flourish in our present age, and encourage broader support for these unique and valuable institutions.” Their report Christian College Market Profile 2025 made four recommendations for faith-based institutions.

1 – Be Optimistic

Since the end of the pandemic, families and potential students have been reassessing their educational priorities. Enrollment in Christian K-12 schools has spiked. More families are home schooling. These students are mission fit for Christian colleges and universities. The result has been “significant enrollment growth among numerous authentically Christ-centered colleges and universities, especially over the last two admissions cycles.”

I believe we are on the cusp of a resurgence in Christian higher education. Though the higher education market may be shrinking, colleges that prioritize academic excellence, affordability, and Christian character are poised to grab a larger share of that market. This is cause for optimism, to say nothing of the holy confidence we have in knowing we serve a God who does “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

2 – Be Authentic

Jesse Rine, CAFF’s Executive Director noted that “higher education in the United States ‘is at its root, a deeply Christian project, one ultimately ground in the basic desire to systematically understand God and His creation.’ While much of American higher education has abandoned this founding purpose and pursued other ends, those working with authentically Christian colleges are heirs to this legacy.”

There is enormous pressure on administration, staff and faculty to meet enrollment goals. Some institutions have de-emphasized Christian identity to attract students. That might work in the short term, but it alienates alumni who love the institution’s historical mission and who are especially wary of mission drift. Donors are similarly suspicious of creeping liberalism in curricula.

Pragmatism aside, fostering authentic Christianity at the institution is the right thing to do. Colleges like ours must lean into our Christian identity and recruit mission fit students who, after all, are looking for precisely what we have.

3 – Be Bold

We should advocate for our colleges and universities without apology. What is more, we should not hesitate to differentiate why families should send their students to Christian college rather than the local state school.

In our state we have an outstanding network of campus ministries that foster students’ faith. When I encounter families that plan to send their students to a nearby state school, I strongly encourage them to connect with a campus minister the day they move into the dorm. But I also don’t hesitate to tell families that, “if you send your kids to Caesar for education, some of them are going to become Romans.”

We should also boldly correct the mistaken notion that a college education isn’t worth the cost. According to Business Insider, “bachelor’s degree holders earn 31% more than those with an associate’s degree and 84% more than those with just a high school diploma.” One study found that students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn an average of $2.8 million over their lifetime.

Census Bureau data reveals that “the median income of households headed by someone with a bachelor’s degree or higher last year was more than double the median income of those with householders with a high school degree but no college.”

Our colleges provide an outstanding education at a great price, and we shouldn’t hesitate to say so.

4 – Be Confident

The future for faith-based colleges is bright. A new report from The Barna Group indicated that “Millennials and Gen Z Christians are attending church more frequently than before and much more often than older generations.” In the CAFF survey 94% of frequent church attenders cite Christian character is the most important attribute they look for in a college. With more Gen Z attending church and regular church attenders prioritizing faith-focused colleges, we can expect an enrollment resurgence at faith-forward colleges and universities.

According to CAFF, “the faith-based sector is well positioned to thrive – not in spite of, but because of the current environment.” As demand for Christian higher ed grows and as more colleges close, the supply decreases. That points to potential enrollment growth for institutions that adjust to the changing market.

God’s sovereignty gives me confidence, too. When I became President, I attended an event for new presidents put on by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. One of the speakers reminded us that presidents are stewards, not owners of the institutions they serve. We are not responsible for the success of our colleges; we are responsible to steward them and their God-honoring mission to the best of our ability and leave the results to God. That gives me confidence.

Awareness, Consideration, Incentive

Our Vice President of Enrollment Management at Great Lakes takes a three-step approach to student recruitment: awareness, consideration, and incentive. Before a student applies she must first be aware that our college exists. Parents, churches, youth ministers and church leaders play an important role in building awareness. Churches can’t legitimately bemoan the scarcity of qualified candidates for open church positions if they don’t financially support, regularly speak about, and encourage students to attend the nearest Restoration Movement college.

Once students are aware that Christian college is an option, the institution is responsible to persuade the students to consider attending. We do this by promoting our distinctive difference: authentic faith, close-knit community, excellent academics, and affordability. Given that Generation Z value their parents’ opinions, mom and dad play a key role in reinforcing that consideration.

Then there is incentive. How to incentivize students to choose one university over another keeps college administrators up at night. For most it comes down to cost. Great Lakes and our sister schools are already priced below most of the market. But parents and students drive a hard bargain. Colleges can respond by either discounting tuition or raising money for endowed scholarships. Discounting is much easier but shrinks profit. If discounts grow unchecked, they erode sustainability and threaten the survival of the institution. The long-term solution to sustaining colleges like ours is to grow our endowments so colleges can offer generous scholarships to potential students while remaining financially responsible.

Conclusion

Our institution’s enrollment has grown by 44% in the last three years. While we have optimized our enrollment process and made it easier for students to apply, be accepted and matriculate, perhaps the biggest reason for the increase is the growing awareness of the kind of education we offer students.

I am convinced our enrollment will continue to grow, because more parents and students want an authentically Christian college that provides a high-quality education at an affordable price. If higher education prognosticators are correct, and I think they are, that’s good news not only for Great Lakes Christian College, but for our sister institutions.

The public may have lost confidence in higher education more generally, yet I believe we may be entering another golden era in Christian higher education. As colleges like ours tell our story and demonstrate how our approach to education meets the needs of prospective students, I expect we will continue to grow.

That’s good news for our college, for our sister colleges, and for the Church.

Dr. Frank E. Weller serves as president of Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan.