Liberty University-Credible school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are fairly liberal-minded, I would stay far away from Liberty. Plus, its graduation rate is only 48% which tells me that students there are not serious about college.

Liberty appears to have a large number of part-time students. Doesn't mean they aren't serious, does mean that the college "experience" there might be very different compared with a college comprised of mostly full-time students.

Liberty also has a large number of students older than 25. Again, that could create a different vibe on-campus.

Basically, I think there is a lot about Liberty that makes it very "different" from the typical college/university, beyond it's Christian focus. It might be the right place for this poster's DD, but also could be very much the wrong place.

[Anonymous]

I think it is a great training ground if you want to work in a creationist museum or become a preacher.

[Anonymous]

No. That is all.

[Anonymous]

I don't know Liberty's demographics, but as a person of color, I find its best to avoid living in a town called Lynchburg.

[Anonymous]

Liberty is founded by Jerry Falwell. It explicitly teaches young earth creationism. It revoked recognition from the Young Democrats because "The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine."

Whatever you think of this history and their policies, its not like they're pretending to be open to all Christians or all political stripes. They're not hiding the ball here: They cater to a particular subset of conservative Christians.

[Anonymous]

Super easy to get into.

[Anonymous]

Liberty has very strict rules for students living in the dorms. Is your daughter comfortable with a dress code, a curfew, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP: first PP here - I found demographics percentages with a very quick Google search, but didn't post them. I was surprised to find that Liberty was 25% black and also had a large chunk of Latino population.

Can you please post your source?

http://collegestats.org/college/liberty-university/admissions

But this also says they get 64,000 applicants. For a school that says on its own website that its "residential" enrollment is 12,600 students.

http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=6925

The notion that a school of this size gets 64,000 applications is patently ridiculous. Compare, for example, the much larger Virginia Tech, which according to the college stats website gets about 30,000 applicants. Or the University of Texas--Austin, one of the largest universities in the country, which gets 50,000 applications for undergraduate admission.

Liberty has one of the largest on-line learning programs in the country. I think the 64,000 applicants must be counting participants in the on-line program. Which makes me suspect their demographic information is based on enrollment numbers that include the on-line program. Whether or not the demographics of on-line students are the same as those living on campus is anyone's guess.

IMO, Liberty engages in a lot of squirrely reporting of stats that suggests a desire to obfuscate. I find that curious. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

OP---what denomination are you? There are plenty of schools which have a substantial Christian presence, and were founded by particular denominations---without going the fundamentalist route. I'm thinking of southern schools like Furman, or Wake Forest (both baptist) or Guilford (Quaker), Elon (Baptist?), or Wofford (Methodist?). All have longer histories and are more recognized than Liberty. All have substantial on-campus Christian organizations. And those are just the ones in the Carolinas----other areas of the country (though particularly the South) have colleges of a similar nature.

[Anonymous]

Credible? No.
I would never ever hire someone who went there.

[Anonymous]

Read "The Unlikely Disciple" by Kevin Roose. The author, a Brown University student at the time, went undercover for a semester at Liberty. The book is eye-opening and disturbing. http://www.amazon.com/The-Unlikely-Disciple-Semester-University/dp/B003UYV1VA

Any university that teaches its students that teenage dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark (apparently the full-grown ones didn't fit) deserves all the ridicule it gets. This is not a university - it's a training ground for fundamentalist politicians who would impose their belief system on the rest of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know Liberty's demographics, but as a person of color, I find its best to avoid living in a town called Lynchburg.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had a lot of family friends go there and all have very successful and rewarding careers. One is a CEO of a national company, one teaches, etc. Yes, of course, it is very conservative and religious. I would check it out for yourself and not rely on this site - you are always going to get the "jesus freak" responders. How educated are they if that is the language they use?

OP didn't ask about the specifics of the school. She asked about its reputation, and whether it is credible. And its reputation is that it is a Jesus Freak school, and, rightly or wrongly, it is perceived as a less-than-rigorous education for people who care about religious indoctrination than learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know Liberty's demographics, but as a person of color, I find its best to avoid living in a town called Lynchburg.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Ironically enough, the founders of Lynchburg were Quakers and opposed to slavery

[Anonymous]

Berry College

Beautiful
in Georgia
Christian, but also very very white, and probably too conservative.

They are looking for AA students, but there's probably a reason they don't have so many.