The category independent Christian colleges and universities is not a very large one. The reason for this is rather simple: as William Ringenberg has noted in the introduction to his helpful 1988 bibliography on such schools, "there are not many contemporary colleges and universities that are both continuing Christian in philosophical orientation and independent of denominational ties in governance." While this may change in the future, given the weakening of denominational loyalties among American Protestants, the fact remains that there are not too many independent Christian colleges.
For purposes of this essay I will I be looking at fourteen institutions. I have divided these colleges into two subcategories: evangelical institutions and fundamentalist institutions. As will be further discussed, the latter schools tolerate much less theological diversity, place much stricter behavioral regulations upon students and faculty, and are much more adamant about separating from both "the world" and from Christians and Christian institutions that do not share their views.
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The document available for download is an accepted manuscript of a book chapter published by Garland Publishing in Religious Higher Education in the United States in 1996. It is provided in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Permission documentation is on file.
Citation information for the book: Hunt, Thomas, and James Carper. Religious Higher Education In The United States: A Source Book. New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.