Onward Christian Schools Online

In the highly competitive online environment where everyone is seeking to develop a niche market, Christian colleges appear to be gaining ground, according to Education News.

Schools like Grand Canyon University, forced to reinvent itself or go bankrupt a few years ago, went from 3,500 enrolled students in a traditional setting to 36,000 in its current online environment. And 90 percent of its students are “distance learners.”

Mid-Christian University recruited some brains behind the online giant University of Phoenix to develop an aggressive five-year strategy they hope will quadruple the size of the online student body. Meanwhile, Liberty University boasts 45,000 online students, nearly twice the number that the school’s founder Jerry Falwell Sr. projected a few years ago.

Religious schools have become increasingly popular because of “America’s religious character” and the growing skepticism about agenda-driven secular schools, noted Regent University president Carlos Campo, adding that the online education component has a built-in market of home-schoolers who can now attend college virtually, without leaving home.

Deborah Lambert writes the Squeaky Chalk column for Accuracy in Academia.