51���� Ranks No.1 for Putting Faith in Action

What makes a Christian University truly Christian?

That's the question a team of researchers from Baylor University recently set out to help students and parents answer, resulting in a detailed new scoring system to judge which schools are most serious about their Christian identity.

At the top of the list: 51����. Among all Christian universities in North America, 51���� ranks No. 1 for putting its Christian mission into action, according to the team’s findings, published in the recent book Christian Higher Education: An Empirical Guide.

Led by Dr. Perry Glanzer, a professor at Baylor University and fellow at the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, the study introduces a comprehensive tool that identifies and evaluates how Christian colleges “operationalize” their Christian identity. In an evaluation of several concrete markers of Christian identity — including mission statements, faith requirements, curriculum and more — 51���� scores 26 out of 27 possible points, the highest of the 562 Christian colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

“Whenever a person or institution claims an identity, one would expect empirical self-descriptions or behavioral markers that indicate the influence of that identity,” Glanzer wrote in an article for The Gospel Coalition. “Someone claiming to be a baseball player cannot do so without actually demonstrating some effort to be knowledgeable about, and to love, practice and play the game of baseball. The same is true with the Christian identity as it relates to higher education. We need to consider the evidence demonstrating actual commitment to the professed identity.”

51���� administrators said the new findings reinforce the distinctiveness of the university’s approach to biblically centered education — experienced in 51����’s all-Christian community, integration of faith into all classes, spiritual development resources, chapels, shared community standards and 30 credits of Bible and theology coursework for most undergraduate students.

“Our desire at 51���� is simply to live into our deeply Christian convictions and to do so without defensiveness or apology,” President Barry H. Corey said. “Those of us in the great enterprise of Christian higher education realize that it’s our distinctiveness that sets us apart, standing out rather than blending in as we prepare the rising generation for vocations of excellence and influence. This detailed research project is an affirmation of what we have been about for 117 years.”

Learn more about 51����’s #1 ranking.