Faith-based colleges and universities in America have historically been described as "church-related." Unfortunately, this classification is too one-dimensional, revealing virtually nothing about how faith-based identity influences the mission, rhetoric, curriculum, or policies of institutions. Although scholars have advanced…

Although higher education scholars have examined chaplaincy in college and university settings, we are not aware of any studies that have sought to examine chaplains who live and serve in residence halls. As such, we conducted a collective case study of three Protestant institutions with residential chaplain roles--Taylor University, Pepperdine…

Despite a focus on the holistic formation of students, nonreligious narratives shape student affairs theories and professional practice guidelines. Recognizing this problem, Christian scholar-practitioners have authored a growing body of literature about what might be distinct about Christian student affairs. This article provides an analysis of…

The relationship between faith-based institutions and students who identify as LGBTQ+ has attracted considerable attention of late. Most of this scholarly attention, however, has focused upon the students themselves. In this article, we examine the contemporary experience of 371 student affairs leaders (SALs) who serve as the primary mediators…

Moral philosophy in early American collegiate education founded its understanding and pursuit of virtue on the theological truth that humans are made in God's image. Therefore, to fulfill our purpose, we need to acquire creaturely analogues of God's virtues. Later American moral philosophy scholars and texts, however, began to use a different…

While interviewing seniors at our university, we came across a curious and disturbing trend. Students of color were less active in any local church. This finding pushed us to ask: does this gap exist throughout Christian college campuses? We answered this question using survey data from over 800 seniors at Baylor University and a national sample…

Higher education scholars have varied views about the importance of moral experts for college students. To complicate matters, higher education scholars and student affairs professionals often have little knowledge of students' perspectives regarding such questions. This article provides a longitudinal case study analysis of students at a…

Christian colleges strive to nurture the religious faith of students. Our study examines the relationship of curricular and co-curricular activities on two dimensions of faith maturity--vertical and horizontal. Analysis of survey data from seniors at one Christian university showed that the factors of discussing religion with peers and spending…

For Christian colleges and universities, students' spiritual formation and character development are important outcomes. However, unlike academic outcomes of retention and graduation, systematic efforts to measure outcomes of faith and character are far from ubiquitous. The purpose of this article is to report the efforts of Baylor University to…

Unlike the liberal arts college, American graduate education started as and continues to be a secular affair. The last four decades, however, have produced growth in both the number and quality of Christian graduate programs. The question we asked is: do American Christian institutions engage in graduate education Christianly? To answer this…

Throughout American history, scholars called Christian higher education by other names. They used terms such as "denominational," "sectarian," "church-related," "church-sponsored," "church-based," and "church-affiliated" higher education to describe Christian higher education. What these…

Scholars studying Christian higher education frequently suggest that faculty are the campus constituents with the most influence over the future of an institution's Christian mission. Thus, both faculty hiring and development are important elements for maintaining and strengthening the Christian identity of a university over time. Despite this…

Some debate exists about the degree to which one should merge one's identities, particularly those with important normative content, with one's teaching practices. This issue becomes particularly important for those with a religious identity who purposefully merge their identity with classroom practices. This article examines the qualitative…

Decades of student persistence and retention literature has brought to light factors of social, academic, and religious fit that influence a student's decision to remain at or depart from an institution. At Christian institutions, increasing student pluralism raises the likelihood that students will not fit religiously. This qualitative study of…

Drawing upon the recent scholarly call to incorporate Christian practices into teaching, we contend that such practices should also be incorporated into the administration of Christian institutions. In particular, we explore the rationale for integrating the practice of Christian confession into the life of a university to address institutional…