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What role does a teenager’s college decision play in the salvation of their soul?

Recent studies have revealed that the Catholic Church is losing approximately 85 percent of its members who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation by the time they turn 23-24 years old. While 10 to 15 percent eventually return, this means that almost seven out of 10 fully initiated Catholics are abandoning their Faith by the time they finish college.

There should be no surprise at these dreary statistics, however. Today’s secular colleges and even many Catholic colleges, while somehow still prestigious in the eyes of the world, are completely devoid of authentic education. The academic depravity in college classrooms should already be enough for us to reevaluate our trust in these institutions, but the culture of vice and ensuing moral degeneracy on college campuses seals the coffin. Thousands of Catholic families are sending their teenagers away to these decadent campuses each year, with the oftentimes misled hope that, in the end, their child will still be practicing their Catholic faith. We willingly throw our young people into the fire and then lament the fact that they’re burned.

Thanks be to God, families and their teenagers do have a choice today. The Cardinal Newman Society evaluates and promotes colleges that stand as beacons of Catholic life, academic integrity, and moral virtue in the face of the disorder rampant in our society. Graduates of such colleges leave having received a degree, but, even more importantly, having come face to face with Jesus Christ. Thus, it is not hyperbole to suggest that, in choosing a college, a young person is making a choice that will quite literally affect their eternal salvation.

In order to see the gravity of the situation more clearly, it’s helpful to look at a few examples. In 2022, a professor at the purportedly most prestigious Catholic university in the country made news, because she bragged about assisting and helping students acquire abortifacient contraception as well as abortion services. Although this professor never redacted and renounced her obviously anti-Catholic behavior, she still remains employed and in good standing at the university. This same institution has also hosted pro-abortion politicians as commencement speakers and dignified guests.

Moreover, on the secular side, our nation’s most “prestigious” universities have become bulwarks of gender ideology, transgenderism, LGBT activism, and atheism. If the institutions themselves are blatantly promoting anti-Catholic values, what else would we expect the culture among the student body to look like? Students are being force-fed ideology that is altogether divorced from reality and truth. Should anyone speak out against such disordered ideology, they face punishment by grade depreciation, so-called cancellation by peers, or even expulsion from the institution. Additionally, it is evident that fraternity and sorority houses, rather than being places to cultivate authentic fraternity and sorority, have become nothing more than more private locations for excessive drinking, destructive drug use, and loathsome fornication. Parents might have the temptation to think back on their own days in a fraternity or sorority and say something along the lines of, “It can’t be all that bad. I had some crazy times in my own day, and I turned out fine.” One simply has to realize that the culture among young people in the 1970s or the 1980s was very different from youth culture in our day—in many ways, our young people are being formed in a culture more vicious than any we’ve seen before.

Parents and teenagers must collectively do the work of evaluating colleges and universities not simply for their seeming prestige in mainstream culture but also for their ability to draw young people to the Heart of Christ, and thus, to discover the great gift that it is to live an authentically human life. We must change the framework within which we understand college and its role in the life of the human person. It is not naïve to believe that a young person can go to a college where they will truly encounter Christ, come to know and love Him deeply, and have their hearts and minds transformed in the process. Even further, it is not naïve to believe that such a young person, having been formed by Christ in college, will also receive a useful degree by which they can find meaningful employment and an adequate salary. We know that this is happening every year at faithful Catholic colleges, specifically those recommended on The Newman Guide.

If parents and students have not had the opportunity to visit these campuses, I cannot recommend this enough. I can only address to them the words of Jesus Himself, “Come and see.” Notice a few important attributes on these campuses:

• Poke your head into a daily Mass on an ordinary Tuesday, you will find many devout young people kneeling before the altar.
• Go visit one of the Adoration chapels on campus (they’re oftentimes located steps away from where your child’s dorm room will be), you will find students worshiping the Eucharistic Lord throughout the day and even through all hours of the night.
• Sit in on classes—from theology, to business, to biology, to politics—and notice the dedicated attention the professors give to each student as well as the respect the students have for their professors as teachers of the Truth.
• Lastly, look around the campus itself. Notice what the students are doing. They sit together. They engage in meaningful conversations together. They play games together. They purposely put away their phones together. They study together. They pray together. They worship together. They live lives of joy and the abundance only Christ can give.

At this point in the conversation, many parents will interject with a rebuttal along the lines of, “But, what about the Catholic centers on secular campuses? Many of those are flourishing and provide great community for the students. Going to an entirely Catholic school isn’t necessary for my child to keep their Faith. Besides, [insert prestigious secular school here] will help them get [insert job here] or [insert sport scholarship here].”

Without demeaning the good work that some Catholic centers and groups on secular college campuses are doing, we must still recognize the fact that Catholicism is entirely compartmentalized at secular institutions—regardless of how good the Catholic center is. The practice of the Faith will always just be one “extracurricular” to choose from, simply due to the fact that the Faith is completely divorced from their academic curriculum and ordinary campus life altogether. Not to mention, the potential peer pressure from hundreds or thousands of fellow students can oftentimes completely outweigh the good influence of the Catholic center.

Aside from this, shouldn’t we want the very best education and formation for our young people? Why are we not desiring that the Faith be an integral part of every course, club, extracurricular, and student life event? Do we think this is altogether extreme? If we are not desiring that our young people be formed by a curriculum that presents to them a holistic picture of the Truth, then we are doing them a great disservice. We cannot fail to remember that Truth has a face and a name: Jesus Christ.

The advantages of attending an authentically Catholic school rather than a mere student center at a secular college should be rather obvious. We cannot plant seeds in unhealthy soil and a polluted environment and then become perplexed or frustrated when they do not grow. In fact, we’d be wise to expect the opposite. We must seek to plant seeds in greenhouses—the authentically Catholic universities—places where our young people will live in an environment in which they have the opportunity to grow and flourish into everything God has created them to be.

Message to youth ministers

At the forefront of the charge leading our young people to these authentically Catholic colleges ought to be our youth ministers, priests, and parishes. If young people never see these colleges for themselves, they’ll always succumb to the purported prestige and greater opportunity promised to them by secular schools. In my own experience as a youth minister in rural Maryland, I have personally witnessed the invaluable impact of taking high school students on visits to authentically Catholic universities. I have personally witnessed students who were not Catholic or who perhaps chose to attend these college visits simply to have the chance to take a trip with friends have a complete change of heart and decide to attend one of the colleges. I have had the great privilege to watch many of our youth attend these most worthy institutions and experience a conversion to the Catholic faith, find their Vocations in the Church, and grow exponentially in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

None of this happens, however, if there are not parishes, priests, and youth ministers who are actively working together to organize these opportunities for the youth to see these campuses in-person. Because we’ve invested so much of our efforts into bringing the young people from our area to these colleges, we’ve experienced upwards of 50 students from our small county at Newman Guide schools at one time. This fall, our small parish will have nine seminarians. Two of them attended Ave Maria University and readily admit that, without visiting AMU on our college tours, they likely would not be in seminary or even practicing their faith. This is a clear testament to the fact that our youth desire a place where they can grow in relationship with Christ and true friendships that lead them toward heaven. They simply must be taken there and shown what the world and mainstream media don’t have to offer.

I cannot exhort youth ministers and parishes enough in this. Be the reason why the youth in your town are graduating in droves from colleges where they fall in love with Christ and choose Him above all else!

Message to youth

Dear young people, consider your worth in the eyes of Almighty God. Consider the great adventure that Jesus calls you to take with Him. As a youth minister, I have personally witnessed the shriveled fruits of sending young people to secular campuses alongside the abundant harvest that takes place when we send our youth to authentically Catholic schools. I know that you desire deep friendships, meaningful learning, and the fulfillment that only Jesus offers you. Do not be afraid to be different from your peers in answering the call of Jesus to cast your nets deeply for an abundant catch.

I promise you that you’ll never regret having immersed yourself into everything that an authentically Catholic college has to offer. Many of you will find your vocations there—perhaps as married people, priests, or religious. You will also find friends who call you to the heights of heaven rather than to the drudgery of sin and vice. The Cardinal Newman Society has presented us with an invaluable resource. They have given you and I the list of the top faithful Catholic colleges in our country. Take it seriously and choose wisely.

You are called to be with Almighty God for all eternity in the paradise of heaven, and the world is against you in this. Go where you will be helped along this journey. Be not afraid!

 

No one truly deserves to be called “educated.”

What I mean is, no human ever completes their education. It’s never accomplished, except in small part. Education is a lifelong journey that probably continues into eternity!

Nevertheless, we talk of high school graduation as a conclusion, college as the pinnacle of education, and doctorates as “terminal degrees.” We carve up education into a multi-step progression—from primary to secondary to higher education—and treat each level like a distinct program. Both students and teachers at each level are regarded as entirely different, and in most schools and colleges, there is minimal interaction across levels.

While there are reasons for this, The Cardinal Newman Society thinks Catholic education needs to unify. Next June, we’ll shatter convention with our Newman Guide Leaders Summit for administrators from all levels and types of Newman Guide Recommended education. And through our Newman Guide Network, we’re encouraging collaboration among peer groups but also across all Newman Guide Recommended institutions.

While Catholic schools, colleges, and other programs—and the grades and levels within them—are beautifully diverse in particular aspects, The Cardinal Newman Society strives to restore the common foundation and mission of all Catholic education. Our Newman Guide standards draw attention to the end toward which all Catholic education should stive: the full communion of every person with the Father, through Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit.

This is the meaning of the high red bar in the Cardinal Newman Society logo, typically running across the page. It symbolizes the high standards of faithful Catholic education, to which all Newman Guide Recommended institutions are committed. But it also is meant to remind us of the lifelong continuum of Catholic education, which begins with the parents’ baptismal promise to raise a child in the Faith and continues through the Christian life.

We think the practical divisions of Catholic education should not get in the way of ensuring faithful formation for every Catholic of every age. The divisions also need not prevent collaboration for the good of all. It’s time to unite and hold the center against the confusion, legal threats, and ideological distortions of our age, for the good of Catholic families.

Lifelong continuum

After nearly two decades of celebrating Catholic colleges in The Newman Guide, with rapidly growing numbers of recommended grade schools and graduate programs and soon also homeschooling, online, and hybrid options, we’re emphasizing the lifelong continuum of Catholic education for people of all ages.

Formation in faith and virtue isn’t just for children. And college isn’t the moment when young adults no longer need guidance—far from it! In fact, we need Catholic education throughout our lifetimes.

Of course, it’s a great blessing that educators today know so much more about the psychological development of their students and can ensure that curricula and pedagogy are age-appropriate. It helps to classify education by grade level, stage of formation (primary, secondary, and higher education), and educational approach. Some classical educators are embracing developmental stages called grammar, logic, and rhetoric, although others regard these as liberal arts that should not be strictly age-limited.

And yet, while broad age-related divisions are helpful, we must remember that they are conceptual and can be too rigidly enforced. We risk shackling students and preventing them from exploring the unity of all knowledge and ascending above it toward God. If we don’t serve every Catholic at every age, we risk excluding people who would benefit from Catholic education. If we don’t keep focus on the enduring mission of Catholic education across all levels, then we narrow our expectations to particulars and lose sight of the goal that lies beyond this life.

It doesn’t help that modern society is preoccupied with the diploma—a piece of paper signaling preparation for employment—instead of delighting in the daily encounter with truth. That encounter is no less fulfilling for the elderly as it is for children.

Mutual success

Moreover, just as Catholic education serves the good of the individual student as well as the good of the Church and society, so should every Catholic school, college, or other educational program be individually excellent yet also collaborate in its mission of evangelization with other educators.

We are excited to see leaders from the Newman Guide Recommended colleges already working in many ways to strengthen personnel policies, share costs, recruit students, etc.—always united in their shared mission. Now, as the number of recommended schools and other programs increases, our Newman Guide Network is forging ties among those faithful Catholic educators for mutual support.

The big task that remains is to build ties across levels. Our leaders summit in June will be a big step, with two cohorts—higher education leaders and leaders of grade-school, homeschool, and other programs—meeting separately for some time but then also gathering together for fellowship and attention to their shared mission. In addition, we are encouraging elementary and secondary education leaders to promote attendance at Newman Guide Recommended colleges, and we are encouraging colleges to forge relationships with Newman Guide Recommended schools and homeschool programs.

One key area of collaboration that is urgently needed is in the defense of faithful education from threats to religious freedom and from ideological activism. The Cardinal Newman Society has long been a vital conduit of information and advice from legal experts to educators. We also recommend actions to stand up and protect these precious institutions.

Heaven or hell

I’ll end with a brief reflection: At what stage of life do we become perfect?

It seems a ludicrous question, and yet I have heard it pronounced with great conviction by various Catholics that catechesis and formation in virtue is for the young, and it does not belong in college. Education in general is something that ends with high school or college graduation. The rest of life is just career and tending to families, perhaps with some private reading along the way.

So is it graduation, then, when we become perfect?

I ask this, because at the moment a Catholic decides education is no longer relevant to his or her life, that must be the moment when the intellect is without error, and the will and passions are perfectly aligned with reason. Only at that moment of perfection does the human have no need of learning and growing.

Until then, all our activity should still be striving for God, by growing in understanding and wisdom without ceasing.

Or maybe there’s an alternative. Perhaps, instead of perfection, we are on the opposite side of holiness when we lose our desire to learn. Perhaps we have lost our desire to know God.

Catholic education belongs in every stage of life. If we move from the liberal arts to specialized studies and skills needed for a particular career, all the more important is the Catholic worldview that situates the particular within the Whole. The alternative to striving for knowledge of God and His wisdom is to fall away from the very purpose for which man was created—and that doesn’t end well.

May faithful Newman Guide education thrive and grow at every level, and by every productive means, for the good of the student and the good of the Church.

Teresa White, a homeschooled student from Illinois, will attend the Newman Guide Recommended University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., thanks to our $5,000 Newman Guide scholarship.

“Attending a truly Catholic college will decidedly strengthen me spiritually, prepare me to be a virtuous defender of the Faith, and assist me in living out my vocation according to God’s plan,” Teresa wrote.

Can you believe that scholarship applications increased 225% this year? You helped make
that happen—thank you!

 

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