Mercer University in Georgia has been in and out of the news since 1987. That was the year that Mercer made it into the top 10 of Playboy’s list of “party schools.” In 1996, Mercer’s president wrote a book in which he claimed that, among other things, Jesus Christ was not divine, the atonement was not substitutionary, and that non-Christians will be saved. Mercer is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention, and has a school of theology (divinity school).

This trend isn’t limited to southern Protestantism. Catholic-affiliated Boston College notes in its faculty and staff newspaper that it has instituted an organization called the Allies of Boston College, which will provide support to students of various sexual orientations "by developing and sponsoring educational programs that promote a fuller appreciation of sexuality as a gift from God, especially as understood in the Catholic tradition," according to that organization's constitution.

I can remember a day about three years ago when I was walking along the pond on the campus of my alma mater. I was having a conversation with one of my history professors (who also happened to be a Pentecostal minister) about the spiritual state of our small Baptist college. Every year students came to the school expecting to receive a liberal-arts education saturated with the Christian worldview. What they found was a campus where many professors did not attend church anywhere, the Bible was treated as an inspired book that was nonetheless subject to errors and untruths, and evangelical piety was frowned upon in the mandatory chapel services. Though the new president was committed to changing all of that, things had not (at that time) really begun to improve.

We talked about the apostasy we witnessed every year. Students would come from strong churches, get involved with campus ministry, but eventually the weak commitment to Christianity on the part of much of the faculty and some of the administrators would choke the spiritual life out of students. Those who came to college strong in their faith began to do things like drink too much and move in with their girlfriends. Students who had once believed God had called them into ministry had dropped out of college altogether and were working at local fast food restaurants and Wal-Mart. Sometimes a student would even renounce Christianity altogether.

We talked about how nothing is more dangerous than a nominally Christian college — a college that calls itself Christian but practices secular scholarship. At authentically Christian colleges (an example that day was Lee University), the administration and faculty are committed to bringing together quality education and the Christian worldview. Students are encouraged in their faith, and professors serve as mentors. We both knew people who had wonderful experiences at strongly Christian schools.

We also agreed that even a purely secular school is better than a nominally Christian college. At least in a secular school, you know where everyone stands. Professors are not expected to be articulate proponents of conservative Christianity. Campus ministries and local church collegiate ministries provide students with opportunities for worship, discipleship, and service. There are no dead chapel services, which are so often retained solely for the purpose of a school continuing to secure denominational funding. In short, you know who the Christians are. We both knew Christian people who had thrived at state universities by plugging in to the campus ministry and church opportunities available to them.

University of Notre Dame historian George Marsden has devoted several books and scholarly articles in the last decade to the Christian foundation of American higher education. The vast majority of the colleges chartered prior to the Civil War were religious colleges. Most of the presidents and administrators were former clergymen. In the mid-1800s, secular research institutions like Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University were founded apart from any denominational affiliations. Higher education was becoming more specialized, and religious schools began to loosen their ties with the denominations that founded them. This has been the case with virtually all of the Ivy League schools, including Harvard (Congregational), Yale (Congregational), Princeton (Presbyterian), and Brown (Baptist). None of these schools is distinctively Christian today.

The trend of “de-Christianizing” continues to this day. In my own Southern Baptist Convention, many of our most cherished colleges and universities have severed ties with the denomination over the last 15 years. Many of these schools are straying further and further from Christianity. Some are actually striving to operate more like state universities. These schools claim to be proud of their Christian heritage, while at the same time embracing a more pluralistic future.

So it’s important to choose a college carefully. For every outstanding Christian college, there’s a nominally Christian college to compete with it, likely with a larger campus, more programs, and a stronger endowment. Discerning students should know what they are looking for in a college. Once in college, students should learn to know when it is safe to trust the religious instruction they are receiving and when it is detrimental to their Christian growth.

Many colleges have become nominally Christian, but students of faith do not have to follow suit.