Catholic Identity College Guide 2014 (Report on 38 Faithfully Catholic Colleges in the U.S.)

[St_Francis]

Darn no Jesuit universities. Those are some of the best universities in the country.

In all honesty I think this report is very biased. Just what makes a Catholic university Catholic?

To me, I want to know how the courses are taught: from a liberal-left-progressive point of view, or from a Catholic point of view?

Just as an example, my first two and last college lit courses were taught by a Marxist and a radical feminist. I departed with the impression that the study of literature was total bunk, a ploy designed to ruin the reading experience.

Now that I am “discovering” the study of literature on my own, I see that value in it. Unfortunately, I lost 35 years’ time because of those ghastly teachers.

How would being Catholic affect other studies? Consider US history: we would learn more about some of the good things people did when they came to the New World. We would look at the principles of the Founding Fathers in an unjaundiced yet morally rigorous way. We would discuss the morality of many things like the dropping of the atom bomb.

In other areas of studies such as math, there may not be much room for Catholicism. But the thing is, even students who major in math have to take a few liberal arts courses. I’d prefer my children’s studies to broaden the application of their faith rather than to destroy it.

 

[commenter]

Darn no Jesuit universities. Those are some of the best universities in the country.

In all honesty I think this report is very biased. Just what makes a Catholic university Catholic?

A number of things. Does the Theology Faculty take an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium? Not at Jesuit universities. Are people who oppose Catholic teaching invited to promote their agenda? You might say this or that “best university” may not agree with all their speakers, but invite them to get a diversity of views. But the views of pro abortion and gay marriage are already presented constantly in other forums; the students have already heard those views, many times. A Catholic university would ask, what truths are they likely to be unfamiliar with? They offer their platform to whatever truths are generally forgotten nowadays.

You might ask, does the living situation of the Jesuit university provide significantly better situation (dorm rules, curfews, heavy drinking, etc) compared to the state university? Most Jesuit colleges are similar to the state universities.

You may say the Sacrament of Confession is “available” at Jesuit universities. But in the actual Catholic universities it is encouraged. So is the Mass.

It’s ludicrous to complain that a report is “biased”. Of course it is, it has a pro Catholic bias. The report identifies institutions that also have a pro Catholic bias. The Jesuit universities I am familiar with lack a pro Catholic bias. They are “objective” in the way public universities are “objective” - in other words, mostly pro secular. (I hasten to add I know a few good teachers, Jesuit and lay, who teach at the local “Jesuit” college. They will admit it is not a genuine Jesuit or Catholic institution; though they do the best they can within their classroom).

 

[manualman]

I disagree with virtually everything you said above-we are so far apart that I have no comment-as a 40 year participant participant in medical research at best your comments are misguided
Have a good day
CJ McAllister M.D. FACP

What we have here are fundamentally different visions of what a university is and what it is for. I have no doubt that MIT or Georgetown will turn out graduates better positioned for prestige jobs and have available to them far greater resources for specialized technical training than, say, Franciscan University of Steubenville. But there is an enormous difference between the undergraduate mission of a university and that of a university in regards to it’s graduate students.

IMO, university reputations are almost exclusively built on their specialized graduate programs and research achievements. Then people assume that excellence there translates to excellence in undergraduate education as well. This is a totally invalid assumption. The idea that an excellent research facility must provide excellent undergrad education is as absurd as the assumption that a brilliant surgeon would make a good teacher.

I attended a highly regarded Big Ten university and got an engineering degree that has served me well. I have a friend who received a business degree (accounting) from Franciscan University in the same time frame. There is no question in my mind that she got a better EDUCATION than I did. Not even close. She was challenged in philosophy, theology, history, literature and classics while I was encouraged to take women’s studies, environmental history, technical writing, persuasive speaking and Spanish. Both of us have technical degrees and were trained well. She also received an actual education. I got facile indoctrination.

She paid a lot more for here degree and got her money’s worth. I got my foot in the door for a good job and didn’t learn how much I’d missed out on educationally until much later.

If your goal for university is to use undergrad as a springboard for entry into higher education, research and academia, there is perhaps some value to the conventional prestige schools. If your expectation is to finish education and move on to the work world after an undergrad or a technical masters degree, there is a LOT to be said for receiving an education in a genuinely catholic environment where catholic philosophy and theology infuse the worldview by which all subjects are examined.

 

[St_Francis]

What we have here are fundamentally different visions of what a university is and what it is for. I have no doubt that MIT or Georgetown will turn out graduates better positioned for prestige jobs and have available to them far greater resources for specialized technical training than, say, Franciscan University of Steubenville. But there is an enormous difference between the undergraduate mission of a university and that of a university in regards to it’s graduate students.

IMO, university reputations are almost exclusively built on their specialized graduate programs and research achievements. Then people assume that excellence there translates to excellence in undergraduate education as well. This is a totally invalid assumption. The idea that an excellent research facility must provide excellent undergrad education is as absurd as the assumption that a brilliant surgeon would make a good teacher.

I attended a highly regarded Big Ten university and got an engineering degree that has served me well. I have a friend who received a business degree (accounting) from Franciscan University in the same time frame. There is no question in my mind that she got a better EDUCATION than I did. Not even close. She was challenged in philosophy, theology, history, literature and classics while I was encouraged to take women’s studies, environmental history, technical writing, persuasive speaking and Spanish. Both of us have technical degrees and were trained well. She also received an actual education. I got facile indoctrination.

She paid a lot more for here degree and got her money’s worth. I got my foot in the door for a good job and didn’t learn how much I’d missed out on educationally until much later.

If your goal for university is to use undergrad as a springboard for entry into higher education, research and academia, there is perhaps some value to the conventional prestige schools. If your expectation is to finish education and move on to the work world after an undergrad or a technical masters degree, there is a LOT to be said for receiving an education in a genuinely catholic environment where catholic philosophy and theology infuse the worldview by which all subjects are examined.

Manualman, you have said great things here! I too have come to realize over the years that my education is *hugely *deficient. My husband, who went to Catholic high school and just a few courses in college, is much better educated than I with my BA.

 

[HouseArrest]

Darn no Jesuit universities. Those are some of the best universities in the country.

In all honesty I think this report is very biased. Just what makes a Catholic university Catholic?

Visit the Cardinal Newman Society website. Their methodology is spelled out.