Be Cautious When Choosing a Catholic College

Many of America’s colleges and universities have become advocates of indoctrinating their students into the culture’s degeneracy and ungodliness.  Unfortunately, this includes many Catholic institutions as well.

Some Catholic parents and their teenaged kids researching potential colleges quickly realize most modern secular universities have become godless wastelands. So they often turn next to consider Catholic higher education. But they need to be cautious and thoughtful. Enrolling an 18-year-old into a Catholic college may be a huge waste of money and a surprising disappointment for families who don’t carefully do their research.

A Catholic college or university being considered might simply be a lighter version of  less expensive, secular colleges. The primary difference may simply be that the Catholic institutions have a crucifix or two in some of their campus buildings.

It is a sad reality that when comparing secular and religiously-affiliated colleges, many equally attract and/or develop radical, live-and-let-live students. They also both employ faculty and administration with anti-Christian principles.

The Pros and Cons of a Catholic University

Even the AI overview on Google agrees that attending a Catholic college or university can have many advantages!  The Catholic Church has a long history of emphasizing scholarly excellence. Most Catholic colleges make meaningful volunteer opportunities part of the educational experience. They also provide on-campus access to liturgies. Additionally, for students raised Catholic, it can feel more comfortable to attend a school where a large number of fellow students are of the same faith.

Unfortunately, far too many Catholic colleges and universities nowadays have lost their way. Catholic dioceses or religious orders founded these institutions to impart Jesus’s truths and positively impact the upcoming generation of Catholics. But since then the institutions have brushed away these original objectives. It is now common to find Catholic colleges with theology departments staffed by non-Catholics. Furthermore, a predominance of the faculty in other departments are either radically secular or lukewarm Christians who possess hostility to orthodox Catholicism.

Villanova Is Just One Example

A good example of a Catholic-founded college which has strayed from its roots is the Pope’s alma mater – Villanova University, in Villanova, PA. (Robert Prevost – aka Pope Leo XIV – earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics there in 1977.) Founded in 1842 by the Order of St. Augustine, Villanova originally was dedicated to its motto of “Veritas, Unitas, Caritas” – aka “Truth, Unity, and Love.”

Like many Catholic universities, Villanova once had an excellent reputation for defending the Catholic faith and passing on the moral teachings of the Church to its students. But over the past 50+ years, a combination of the secular culture’s influence, hiring non-devout administrators and faculty, and enrolling of many pagan-like students killed that reputation. Any positive, pious attributes from decades ago were smothered and replaced by negative, agnostic elements.

For example, the Villanova community reacted in a non-Christian manner, in 2022, upon hearing the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case for abortion. Many professors and students on the Villanova campus did not applaud the decision as devout Catholics would. Instead they were sad or angry. They felt “frustration and disappointment in the face of this loss of a right to female bodily autonomy.”  They couldn’t care less about the fundamental Catholic doctrine regarding life. In fact, one Villanova professor, who teaches theology and religious studies no less, publicly promoted a wicked solution. He called for women to be allowed to have unrestricted abortions in their first 90 days of pregnancy.

Villanova might be called an un-Catholic Catholic university.  They celebrate having an Office of Belonging and Inclusion and an associated VU Pride organization. They help create so-called trans-inclusive restrooms, social events for “queers” [their word], and scholarships solely given to so-called LGBTQIA+ students.

The university’s creation and promotion of ‘woke’ would be alarming if these were all an anomaly.  Sadly, the culture of the preponderance of American Catholic campuses are similar to Villanova and have likewise forgotten their Christian-founded purposes.

There Are Scores of Similar, Pseudo-Catholic Colleges

The news is full of story after story about anti-Catholic, corrupt, and/or cowardly actions taken by administrators and faculty at supposedly “Catholic” colleges. Just a few of the hundreds of examples include:

• A student at Providence College was publicly singled out, targeted for vilification, physically threatened, forced to leave his dormitory room, attacked in the campus newspaper, and slimed by the administration. The reason? He displayed a poster in his dormitory that echoed the Church’s teachings on marriage.
• Holy Cross College changed the origin of its mascot, “Crusader,” from the Catholic tradition to now mean “crusaders for human rights, social justice, care for the environment, and respect for different perspectives, cultures, traditions, and identities.” The reason? The administration feared the moniker was upsetting Muslims.
• The University of San Diego blocked their College Republican Club from hosting a conservative speaker on campus whose talk was to reinforce the Catholic Church’s stance that there are only two genders. The reason? The university administration claimed his beliefs were “grossly offensive” and would create an “unsafe environment on campus for different populations of people.”
• Georgetown University holds an exclusive graduation ceremony called a “Lavender Graduation.” The reason? The administration panders to and celebrates their homosexual students.
•  Santa Clara University expects students in its therapy/counseling program to watch sexual bondage videos. They also discuss their masturbation practices, and listen to so-called transgender guest speakers talk about what arouses them sexually. On top of this the classes affirm beliefs in so-called white privilege and gender-transitioning.

Too Many Catholic Institutions Have Forgotten Their Origin Story

Assuming that because a university has “Catholic” in its title or founding documents is faithful is a bad assumption.

Catholic schools should have an objective of teaching the truth of the Gospel as it comes to us through the magisterium of the Catholic Church. But the odds are low that when searching to find a “Catholic” college in the 21^st century you will find one authentically Catholic in its mission, environment, and principles. One will more likely find at worst, an anti-Catholic or at best, a quasi-Catholic institution.

Biblical truths on life, marriage, sexuality, and other ethical norms are not taught or reinforced on many Catholic college campuses. Instead, these misguided, blasphemous, or heretical institutions of higher learning are encouraging their students to reject the Church’s truths. These are the same truths that the founders of their colleges actually championed decades or centuries ago.

While many Catholic colleges and universities have forgotten their true salvific mission, happily there are exceptions. A scattering of higher learning institutions in the United States continue during this modern, depraved era to courageously proclaim the Gospel in its fullness. They are the institutions which concur Catholic teachings will never change. They teach and uphold the dignity of the human person beginning at conception. They believe in the sacredness of marriage between one man and one woman.

Resources to Help Parents Find the Best Colleges

The Cardinal Newman Society promotes and defends faithful Catholic education. Parents would be wise to refer to this organization to learn what are the best practices in Catholic schools and which schools are committed to these practices.

The Newman Society publishes an annual Newman Guide which serves as a source for identifying model Catholic colleges and vetting the pseudo-Catholic ones. The Newman Society investigates all aspects of Catholic colleges.  The society looks at everything from academics to athletics and from the faculty to the campus life events.

Currently, the top model institutions that the Newman Guide applauds for refusing to compromise their Catholic mission are (in alphabetical order):

1. Aquinas College (Tennessee)
2. Ave Maria University (Florida)
3. Belmont Abbey College (North Carolina)
4. Benedictine College (Kansas)
5. Catholic University of America (Washington DC)
6. Christendom College (Virginia)
7. Franciscan University (Ohio)
8. Holy Apostles College (Connecticut)
9. John Paul the Great Catholic University (California)
10. Thomas Aquinas College (California and Massachusetts)
11. Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (New Hampshire)
12. University of Dallas (Texas)
13. University of Mary (North Dakota)
14. University of St. Thomas (Texas)
15. Walsh University (Ohio)
16. Wyoming Catholic College (Wyoming)

It is quite evident that the colleges not listed in the Newman Guide are all the big name colleges and universities.  The Jesuit-founded universities (e.g., Georgetown, Loyola, Boston College, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Marquette) and other Catholic “power houses” (e.g., Notre Dame, Providence, DePaul, St. John’s) are not on the list.

There are almost 250 Catholic colleges and universities in America. With the exception of the handful of Catholic colleges and universities given credence by the Newman Guide, I would bet that at least 200 Catholic higher education schools have strayed from their Catholic roots.

Even if one were to argue the Newman Guide is too restrictive in its ratings, and perhaps they are only 50 percent trustworthy in their evaluations, that still leaves around 100 Catholic colleges that are Catholic-in-name-only.

This is why parents and students should be cautious and thoughtful when picking a college. They should start with the Newman Guide. In addition, they should refer to the Newman Society’s list of key elements of an authentic Catholic college when examining college websites and visiting campuses. These elements insist that a Catholic institution must:

1. Prioritize the souls of their students over every other consideration.
2. Create a community where faithful educators partner with parents to give witness to Gospel values.
3. Provide students with solid theology, prayer experiences, and exposure to Scripture and sacraments.
4. Form students to resist relativism, overcome individualism, and discover vocations.
5. Impart a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history.

Another great resource in searching for colleges is the Congregation for Catholic Education’s document, The Identity of a Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue. It provides guidelines on the value of a school’s Catholic identity and the criteria which makes a school truly Catholic. One criteria is hiring truly faithful Catholics who profess and witness to the Catholic faith. In addition, the document notes that a truly Catholic institution will intervene by correcting or even dismissing a teacher who fails to provide faithful formation to his/her students.

It Is the Teacher Who Has the Most Impact

In his Encyclical on Christian Education written 100 years prior to the above document, Pope Pius XI said relatively the same thing.  He said that authentic Catholic schools must most importantly hire and nurture sound professors/teachers:

“Greater stress must be laid on the employment of apt and solid methods of teaching… Perfect schools are the result not so much of good methods as of good teachers, teachers who are thoroughly prepared and well-grounded in the matter they have to teach; who possess the intellectual and moral qualifications required by their important office; who cherish a pure and holy love for the youths confided to them, because they love Jesus Christ and His Church…; and who have therefore sincerely at heart the true good of family and country.”

Parents seeking a Catholic college for their children (or seeking Catholic K-12 schools) should ask about the school’s percentage of practicing Catholic teachers. A school does not have to employ a 100 percent Catholic faculty to be considered faithfully Catholic. But every adult in the school building must be a herald of the Gospel and never defiant toward the Catholic Church. These prerequisites for getting hired must apply to all staff – from the religion/theology teachers to the administrative assistants.

The highly woke Jesuit college, Seattle University, is a perfect example of what a Catholic institution should not do. They recently doubled down on their love affair with racist “Diversity/Equity/Inclusion” (DEI) propaganda. Instead of making sure they are hiring faithful Catholic, or at least not-defiant-to-Catholicism Christians, Seattle University has a different, singular objective. They proudly announced their primary goal is to “increase hiring of BIPOC staff and faculty, and improve retention of existing BIPOC staff and faculty” (BIPOC is a politically-correct, made-up term meaning “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.”)

The wider culture already attempts to poison the minds and souls of children. Parents should not pay tuition to a Catholic school whose faculty do likewise. Professors and mentors can have an extremely close relationship with students, and be highly influential for at least four years. This is why it is vital to verify that the faculty and administrators at a college or university are faithful Catholics.

We All Can Pray and Hope

Even if you are not the parent of a child who will be shopping for a college in the future, you can still get involved in Catholic education.

First of all, if you are an alumni of a Catholic college, do not financially support the institution if it is more ‘progressive-embracing’ than ‘God-fearing.’  Additionally, pray that the majority of institutions of higher learning with “Catholic” in their name/origin story will return to their roots. Likewise, pray that Catholic college administrations remove all offices, policies, and courses which push depraved gender ideology or follow racist/sexist DEI practices.

Catholic schools need to resolve to only hire either faithful Catholic faculty or non-Catholics who pledge to not express disapproval toward the Catholic Church.  And we need the colleges which have lost their way to recover the Catholic identity that their alumni experienced in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. When this happens, 21^st century Catholic college students will have greatly improved their chances to be formed as faithful, moral Christ-followers.