A Different Educational Philosophy is REQUIRED!

The first thing to point out is that this college is based on the principle that parents are in charge of their children’s education. This should be the case even through college. The Christian Institute provides the way for this to continue to be so!

Today’s educational systems have become way too administratively top-heavy. As homeschoolers, many families already recognize that a quality education doesn’t have to cost very much. Many families pay less then $800 per year to teach all of their school-aged children through high school. This compares to nearly $14,000 per student per year to educate each child in public schools in states like New York and California, with much inferior results. (See http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2004Meetings/February2004/0204sai1.htm if you don’t believe it costs that much per student.)

This same disparity should be obvious to parents thinking about college. Why does one university charge $1450 per course, while another charges $450 or less for the same content? In many cases (we admit it’s not every one) it is about prestige, status, and clout. People send their children to colleges based on their prominence, reputation, stature, and so on. Even when students nearly fail the courses, and hardly grasp the content that should be learned in them, the fact that they took the course at a Michigan or Penn State, for example, justifies the inflated tuition costs.

We believe that this is a waste of time and money.

A course in English Composition or General Psychology is not much different at many mid-level schools. We’re not talking about the Harvard’s, MIT’s, or Stanford’s here, where there might be superior academic content. But in colleges that aren’t in the “top ten” level, there’s really not that much of a difference in content. So again, the question is, why do these schools charge so much? It has to do with the overhead in buildings, equipment, facilities, staff, and other physical costs.

A course, in-and-of-itself, designed by a person who knows the subject being presented, isn’t that expensive to produce. It is all that other stuff that pushes the price of education so high. (Home-based college courses costing less than $100 allow students to credibly gain up to 6 college credits in content. These include subjects like natural science, college algebra, biology, U.S. history, psychology, sociology, and English composition; students pass CLEP exams with just this instruction level, verifying that this is true.)

Before you dismiss this argument as too naïve or parochial, think about how homeschooling has developed over the years. People with almost no money, who pick-and-choose curricula using disperse publishers, and have limited academic experience have produced spelling bee champions, SAT and National Merit Scholars, and self-motivated entrepreneurs. Most of their successful students are well-balanced, socially active young people.

We believe that parents are the key to the equation.

It’s all about parent-directed education. If you are interested in being in charge of your children’s education, rather than having a college that controls your student for you, we think you will like what we do.

We believe you as a parent are the most qualified educator your child will ever have. The Christian Institute provides the means for you to do what God intended for you to do—educating even at the college level.

We want to empower you to take charge of college for your children.

If you are willing to take the responsibility for those aspects of obtaining a college degree that you are capable of doing: selecting the courses, finding the curricula (with our recommendations, of course, where applicable), guiding your children through the process, and making the majority of the decisions that a college administrator would make, we think you will be very interested in this home-based solution.

So let us guide you into what this should look like.

What’s Next?

Getting started with college work isn’t really that difficult, particularly if you’re a homeschooler. If we’re talking about a young student (between 10 and 13) who is just starting secondary school, you will want to read The Parent’s Guide to the Christian Homeschool Daily Planner to learn about The Grand Plan for Homeschooled Students. This will show you how your student can start “double crediting” high school and college courses as early as the age of 11, 12, or 13, and on through the high school years.

For students who are in institutional secondary schools, doing “double crediting” is still possible, but usually it’s a bit harder to manage the courses. That’s because typically, students are forced to move at the pace of the class. Using our approach might still be very possible though; and very much so, if we’re talking about an exceptional or gifted student who is taking Independent Study or contract-based courses in an institutional setting. Or it might be that your student is taking courses where “double credits” are already awarded, perhaps in an Advanced Placement or Independent Study program.

Then there are those “ordinary” college students who are enrolling in the “regular” way. These collegians just plan to take a traditional college course load. However, going to a secular college isn’t what they are looking for!

They would just as well be willing to stay home, study subjects from a biblical worldview perspective, and pay as they go, keep costs as low as possible, and enjoy being with their families. They aren’t interested in living hours from home, or commuting back and forth every day to study things they can learn quite well as an independent, self-motivated student.

There might be some girls whose ambition is to be a wife and mother. This is one of the Lord’s highest callings! Yet as young ladies they still know they need to develop their minds. The Christian Institute is made with this concept as a central point. These young ladies don’t have to leave home, and they can still complete their college ambitions!

There will also be boys who might want to work in their dad’s business, or take care of the farm. So a home-based college is the only way that higher education will take place in for these young men.

Perhaps your particulars are a little different from these. In any case, you think that getting a degree in Biblical Worldview Studies in Arts and Sciences from The Christian Institute is the way to go.