Christian Colleges Thriving Amid Higher Ed’s Demographic Decline
(ANALYSIS) Across the country, colleges and universities are grappling with the effects of the demographic cliff: This year’s sharp drop in the number of high-school graduates resulting from lower birth rates during and after the 2008 recession.
The so-called cliff follows after several years of slow demographic decline. These changes have led to a swiftly shrinking higher-education market. Many schools have already experienced declining enrollment.
This is especially true at small religious liberal-arts institutions. According to federal data, total enrollment at such institutions has decreased in the last 20 years. And the median size of small private institutions has shrunk from 1,056 in 2003 to 861 today. Several formerly religious colleges have shuttered or merged after drifting from their faith-based missions. For example, Saint Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C., and Marygrove College in Detroit, Mich., closed their doors in recent years, citing enrollment and financial pressures.
But in the midst of this decline, a small minority of Christian colleges are thriving. What sets them apart is their adherence to a sincere religious identity.
One example is Belmont Abbey College. This small Catholic college, located near Charlotte, North Carolina, has steadily built its reputation and enrollment while other colleges faltered. The school now offers more than 30 majors and 45 minors to more than 1,700 undergraduate students (up from fewer than 1,000 in 2003). Its Honors College features a Great Books program. In 2024, it launched a new master’s degree in classical and liberal-arts education. In this buyer’s market for higher education, Belmont Abbey has found its niche.
Belmont Abbey is not alone in its successful growth. A small but mighty cadre of colleges nationwide adheres to faithful Protestant or Catholic education and has reaped the benefit of increased enrollment. For example, at College of the Ozarks, being “Christian” is one of the school’s “five pillars” of education. Hillsdale College’s liberal-arts core ensures that every student will be familiar with the most significant Christian thinkers. The University of Dallas calls itself “a community strengthened and nourished by the Sacraments.” All have grown significantly in the past few decades.
Students and parents alike are seeking more than just career preparation. They’re looking for moral formation, Christian community, and a sense of purpose. Colleges that offer an education grounded in faith, virtue, and tradition meet that need.
These colleges have resisted the temptation, common among higher-education institutions, to be all things to all people. But many formerly religious institutions have fallen prey to the temptation to emulate their secular peers, adding superfluous workforce programs and following cultural trends. At this point, they are little different from state institutions, offering the same majors, student experiences, and university cultures as their public and secular peers. From a student or parent perspective, it makes little sense to pay for a private education if it’s indistinguishable from the more affordable public university down the road. It’s no wonder that Christian-in-name-only institutions are losing students.
Fortunately, two guides for students can help separate the wheat from the chaff. The Newman Guide includes 20 colleges recommended for their “commitment to a faithful Catholic education.” It also lists five schools that have “provisional recognition.”
The Center for Academic Faithfulness & Flourishing offers its own guide for other Christian denominations. It lists 257 schools, which students can filter by religious tradition, whether chapel services are required, and whether all faculty members must be professing Christians (among other filters).
As the higher-education market tightens, more colleges and universities should learn from the model offered by authentically Christian institutions. Be distinct. Lean into the Christian mission that once guided your institution. Reclaiming a distinct Christian identity isn’t just a good enrollment strategy. It’s a return to the true purpose of higher education: Seeking wisdom, cultivating virtue, and preparing students to thrive in their vocations.
Jenna Robinson is president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.