Morality and values are legitimate areas of study under philosophy, sociology, and psychology. That there is not more emphasis on them in 'secular' universities, is in part because of the dominance of materialism, the profit motive, and 'business', in American life. Pressure is on all institutions of higher learning to be 'relevant' to 'making a living' and the material prosperity of the corporations funding the research. Christians would have a far greater influence on society if Christians lived the values and wisdom of Christ (you cannot serve God and money) rather than insisting 'truth' is adherence to one belief system and rigid doctrines.

My children went to a state school, so we had to work extra hard to combat the anti-Christian propaganda that their professors threw at them. We relied heavily on local churches with their college classes, the Baptist Collegiate Ministries, etc. The state gives state colleges an unfair advantage by subsidizing state schools. As a result tuition at state schools is about 1/3 that of private schools. That prevents many Christians from sending their kids to state schools. If the state must subsidize higher ed, a better system would give vouchers to students to attend any school of their choice. A college degree is required now for most good paying jobs. It didn’t use to be that way. Government subsidies of higher education have resulted in diploma inflation: jobs that used to require a high school diploma now require a college diploma because of the excess supply of college diplomas. Diploma inflation is another reason that universities have degenerated into trade schools.

While the article is thought provoking there is a basic principle missing from both the history of higher education and the recommendations for maintaining a system of learning that is truly Christian, that is, biblical. The higher education community started its decline when it began to divert from the principle that the inspired and infallible Word of God was authoritative in the lives of all individuals, and I might add, in all areas of knowledge. 1 Timothy 3:16-17

I finished reading this article with great emotion. The writer articulates the reason my husband and I are struggling and sacrificing to send our 2 children to Christian universities. We want them, not only to have skills to obtain a job, but to have "expertise in the conduct of a good life." We want them to gain wisdom, to "search for God's truth in every area", to wrestle with who God is, who they are, and what it means to be a human made in the image of God. Both of our children have benefitted from required reading, classroom debates, and campus speakers at their respective Christian colleges. I am not a zealot in my conversations with Christian friends on the positives of Christian higher education. I am just grateful it is an option. I hope Christian universities are able to uphold their distinctives for those who choose to be educated in the broader sense of the word.

An interesting perspective. As a Christian of many years I ended working a major state university and became president of the local chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. The Society motto is "Let the love of learning rule humanity." During initiation ceremonies I gave a closing statement describing the criteria used for membership, superior scholarship and sound character. I would say we did not evaluate your character. For how could we? We did not have them as students and were able to observe and interact with them. I said character is something you develop and then gave two examples of what I considered character. I did not use Christian examples as the situation was not appropriate. I want to express (good moral) character was and is part of the secular university. It may be disguised and not in every classroom but it can be found. Wisdom is not restricted to Christian teaching. Faculty and staff at such institutions are under constraints not present in Christian ones.