Real Catholic Schools Are the Ones Rising

The Faithful Catholic College Boom

It’s springtime for faithful Catholic colleges in America, the National Catholic Register is reporting, with an emphasis on those featured in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.

For a variety of reasons, many parents are thinking long and hard about where they’re sending the kids to college and because of that, many faithful Catholic colleges are seeing increases in enrollment and a bright future ahead.

Whether it’s the online classes of The Augustine Institute in Denver, the affordability and faithfulness of Ave Maria University, the focus on new media at John Paul the Great University, or the Great Books curriculum at the College of Saint Mary Magdalen, faithful Catholic colleges are noticing an increase in interest.

“Our enrollment is definitely growing,” said Derry Connolly, president of John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego.

The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts of New Hampshire freshman class has grown by 25% in each of the past two years.

Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif. [Great books] is looking at a 20% increase in enrollment for next year.

But it’s more than the strong curriculum and the low tuition. According to Father James Shea, the president of the University of Mary, “Serious Catholic families are looking for a good place where their students can get a quality education in a values-based Catholic environment and where they can be confident in the safety and security of their students,” he said.

For many parents, faithful Catholic colleges like those featured in The Newman Guide to Catholic Colleges, are an answer to a prayer. A lot of prayers.

You can read the entire piece at The National Catholic Register.

This is good news in two respects. First, there are alternatives to this hogwash [here, here, here, here] at many of our Catholic schools. Second, the great books and liberal arts programs will be educating thousands in how to think independently 101. I.e. Students will be learning about the different story of western thought from Plato to Quine and how we got where we are today instead of being shoved into a scientific specialization with a implicit positivist/empiricist view of the world. Yes, it is important to ask the question again. Latest is the greatest may work with technology, but in other areas like philosophy…people tend to repeat their mistakes.