Assessing the Impact of Market Challenges on Colleges and Universities Affiliated with Independent Christian Churches

Abstract

This study used a qualitative, descriptive, collective case study approach to assess some of the current market challenges facing colleges and universities affiliated with independent Christian churches and to describe how some of these institutions are responding to these challenges. The chief academic officers (CAOs) for six of these schools were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the greatest market challenges facing their schools, the steps they were taking to meet these challenges, and the impact these challenges were having on the Bible and ministry programs at their schools. The findings seem to indicate that CAOs of Bible colleges, Christian universities, and liberal arts schools face similar problems, yet respond with various amounts of success based upon their model of education and their own abilities. The findings also seem to indicate that the Christian university and liberal arts school model may be the way forward for most Bible colleges affiliated with the independent Christian churches.