Good point. And a lot of these schools also happen to be just the right size for my son. Being in the SF Bay Area, USF and Santa Clara have strong reputations with high concentrations of (possibly to be) fellow alums that adds a little hook when entering the labor market. We’d be looking at these regardless.
And the College Niche rankings of Catholic colleges, has Jesuit schools taking 4 out of the 5 top spots. With Notre Dame being the only non Jesuit school in the top 5.
1 Notre Dame
2 Georgetown
3 Holy Cross
4 Boston College
5 Santa Clara
@zapfino it’s your circles.
As I said above, I went to a Franciscan university. I’ve never heard of the Steubenville one until this post, so I don’t know anything about it. I do know that the one I went to was not conservative. The priests on campus were mostly Franciscan (although we also had at least one Dominican priest) and I would not describe any interactions with them as conservative. They were friendly, jovial, and often hung out at the dining halls and local bars with students. You knew they were there before you saw them because of their booming laughs.
I had professors of all faiths in my classes. I specifically remember Franciscan professors for two courses (Meanings of Jesus, which was analyzing parts of the Bible in a very non conservative way and biology which was taught in the same way any biology course would be taught anywhere) and a Dominican priest for a class called Christian marriage where the priest agreed with my that the selection on a Pope is a very political process very different than a spiritual process that one might expect, again this seems more a liberal way of thinking to me. 20+ years ago we had LGBT rights clubs and students of all different backgrounds and beliefs.
I really think that unless someone is looking for prestige, they shouldn’t rely on generalizing all catholic colleges/universities or make assumptions that Jesuit is the best or all Franciscan ones are equivalent in feel.
Jesuit colleges tend to be highly respected in part because Jesuits themselves are so well educated. The training process to become a Jesuit is very long, and after they become a full member of the order, they often continue their studies. Many of them end up with an impressive list of graduate degrees, often in fields having nothing to do with religion. And they often attend top universities, Catholic or otherwise. It is also not uncommon for American Jesuits to have studied at excellent universities in foreign countries, and to speak several languages.
You can’t generalize all Catholic colleges, and I don’t think anyone here is trying to do that. I also don’t think anyone is trying to disparage Franciscan, Dominican, Holy Cross or other orders (I graduated from a school run by the Holy Cross order which was very liberal and inclusive and welcoming to all). Different Catholic orders have their “thing” that they’re noted for, and for Jesuits their “thing” has always been education. The Jesuits have a long and well deserved reputation for excellence in education that goes back hundreds of years. It’s not chasing “prestige”, it’s a well-deserved reputation of excellence. That in no way demeans schools of other denominations or other faiths (there are many excellent Lutheran, Quaker, Jewish and other universities).
I do think you can talk about Jesuit universities as a block because they tend to be consistent in the face they present to the world. If you look at other schools, they can differ from institution to institution. Franciscan University of Stuebenville is a very conservative environment that would possibly make certain students feel very uncomfortable, which sounds very different from the Franciscan U that @mom2twogirls attended. I know the Holy Cross college I attended was very different and much more liberal than Notre Dame.
For those who admire the educational tradition but are hesitant about the Catholic aspect, generally speaking a Jesuit school is a good choice. Other orders the level of comfort is going to differ by the individual institution.
We are Jewish and just toured a Jesuit college for my D. From an educational perspective, the Jesuit philosophy aligns with hers- social justice, educating the whole person, emphasizing the liberal arts. She would be happy taking religion classes as she enjoys learning things different from her own background. However, she’s not sure if she would be comfortable with the religious symbols on the buildings and in the classrooms. Also, the student body is very homogenous and she wants a diverse campus. Not sure if that’s the case at all Jesuit schools or just this one. We are going to tour one more Jesuit college in a few weeks so it’ll be interesting to see if she has the same reaction.
I personally found it interesting that the Jesuits built their colleges in or near major cities because of the service they do in the cities.
In 2003, some Holy Cross faculty did a survey of student religious beliefs. They found it “troubling” that there were zero Jewish students. https://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/winter03/features/faith.html
Holy Cross is a great schooI, and I have no doubt that a Jewish student could have a terrific experience there. However, I can also imagine that many Jewish students might prefer to have a more neutral name on their college diploma, like maybe “Georgetown” or “Boston College” or “Fordham”. It’s hard to imagine a more explicitly Christian name than “Holy Cross”.
@Marcie123, our DD also found the religious symbols uncomfortable - for her community is global and religion is personal.
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