Accredited Online Christian Colleges: How to Choose a School

Accredited christian colleges vary widely in the degrees offered and institutional styles. Often, the choice of what college to attend depends mostly on a student's preference. Students interested in a traditional Christian education may prefer colleges with more rigorous standards.

How to Find the Right Online Christian College

There are almost as many choices in accredited degree programs from online Christian colleges as there are from traditional on-campus programs. Finding the right college often isn't so much a matter of finding the best or most reputable Christian college as it is finding an institution and degree program that are the best fit for an individual student's interests and beliefs.

Determine Degree and Purpose

The first step for prospective students is to determine what sort of degree best fits with their career plans, and to decide what kind of institution best fits their personal temperament. Because Christian colleges are often much smaller than public universities, they may have a very limited number of choices in degree programs and focuses. Some are seminaries that offer courses of study specifically in the Bible. Others offer traditional degree programs. What program a student chooses often limits their choices in what college they attend.

Insure Personal Compatibility

Some Christian colleges are relatively strict, and require their students to promise that they will not drink alcohol or participate in activities such as dancing while in college. Others are more liberal in their requirements, requiring only that they behave in a responsible manner while in college.
Some colleges, though they are Christian colleges, invite students of all faiths to attend. Others require students to agree with a set of beliefs and doctrines in order to attend. What university a student attends is often purely a matter of personal preference and of what institutional style they are comfortable with.

Available Programs and Formats

Degree Availability and Types

Degrees from Christian colleges are often as varied as those from public universities, though often an online Christian college will not offer as wide a range of degree options as public colleges, and comparatively few Christian colleges offer associate's degrees via distance learning.

Program Format and Structure

Most online degree programs are offered via education portal software, that fuses e-mail, instant messenger and message boards into a single interface for easy communication between students and teachers and among different members of a class. This software usually has built-in testing capabilities and may have real-time assignment grading as well.