A Letter from the Founder

We’re at a significant and inescapable crossroads in higher education. The same universities have grown and grown and decidedly outgrown their purpose. Universities chase one another in arms races for the shiniest campus, the hot new major, or the plushest amenities. And meanwhile, class sizes grow, students have less time with faculty, student debt skyrockets, and society has less faith in the world-readiness of graduates than ever before.

Equally alarming are the unprecedentedly constraints on free inquiry in higher education. College is a time to test ideas and form a worldview, a time to make mistakes and question one’s assumptions in an environment designed to encourage open dialogue. Yet polls show that the majority of students are afraid to share their ideas in class for fear of social repercussions. Students and faculty alike are afraid of getting canceled, and as a result universities have become the ground zero for worry and suspicion.

Where are the curiosity and disagreement needed for a true conversation—the shot of fresh air that only comes with a well-asked question?

I wish I could say that the situation were different for Christian higher education. But Christian universities have fallen by the same crippling forces—the loss of free inquiry, bloated costs, neglect of the classroom, and an artificial separation of the disciplines that is inherited from a secular understanding of education. The very structure of the modern university has become secular in abandoning the principle of unity and design that incorporates all disciplines with each other.

Why are we building a new college? …because in order to train students of knowledge, conviction, and action, we need to start from the ground up.

And why a a new Christian college? …because everything about the college experience is informed by faith. Our commitment to deep reading, open discussion, faculty mentorship, and student community derives from a theological understanding of what it means to be a student. Our Christian theology of learning holds that learning is redemptive, and redemption is creative. True learning changes you from the inside out. And it overflows into creativity.

So we’re making a college that begins by immersing students in the Great Texts that address history’s biggest questions and then asking students to do something about it. The Interdisciplinary Business minor is unlike any other business program. It’s taught in the same discursive style as the Great Texts courses. And it features industry leaders from business, nonprofits, the arts, and ministry who present students with challenges and projects.

Knowledge, Conviction, and Action. These three qualities should not exist without one another. The are the head, the heart, and the hands of a human being. We know with all three capacities, and we act through all three. Every detailed of the Hildegard experience is designed to engage students as whole persons.

This includes students as whole members of the economy. Hildegard College uses a different financial model. We’re a place of learning first, and this means we don’t spend students’ tuition dollars on distractions and frivolous amenities. Academics are the focus. And, as ironic as it sounds, this means that our tuition is much lower than most private colleges.

We live at a time when many Christian young people are understandably uncertain about the best path after high school. If I do go to college, what am I going for? a job? a network? less debt than the next person? to meet my parents’ expectations? Meanwhile, universities bombard you with promises of belonging, innovative programs, financial return, or maybe a faith-based perspective.

The proposition of Hildegard College is simple. If you’re looking for a school that believes that the most powerful college experience is one that begins and ends with a community of bright and purposeful Christian students, seeking the truth in faith and relentless honesty, then we invite you to apply to Hildegard College.

Our first years will be an exciting time. And students will have the chance to be part of an inaugural class.

Our plans are ambitious and disruptive. They are based on Christ’s promise of an abundant life, and they follow in the footsteps of a tradition of thinkers and makers who seek it.

Sincerely,

Matthew J. Smith, Ph.D.

Founder, Hildegard College