by Joy Cressler

Created on: August 04, 2008

Only wealthy families can afford to send their children to Christian universities, right? Not necessarily.
When all costs of a college education at Christian universities are compared to secular colleges, the differences are much smaller than is commonly believed.
One belief is that wealth levels of the students who attend Christian universities are much higher than students who attend regular colleges. That is not true either.

For example, at the University of Dallas, the median family income of undergraduate students from Texas is $69,000 per year, which is similar income levels for families of students attending non-Christian institutions, according to Curt Eley, dean of enrollment for UD.
"Twenty-five percent of our students' families earn more than $105,000, while 25 percent earn less than $35,500," Eley said. "Among those who apply for financial aid, most have cash assets of less than $5,000 outside of retirement plans."
Similarly, 33 percent of students at Hardin-Simmons University have family incomes over $75,000 per year and only 25 percent of those earn more than $100,000 per year, according to Dave Coffield, HSU director of public relations.
Coffield explained that hidden costs like fees, room and board, are what account for the perception that Christian universities are more expensive than secular colleges.
For example, a breakdown in actual costs per semester between HSU and Texas Tech University (using HSU and Tech data for 2007-08) looks quite lopsided when considering 12 hours of tuition for an undergraduate - HSU's tuition is $6,400 and Tech's is $1,600.
But when room and board is calculated at $2,500 for HSU and $7,460 for Tech, plus fees of $400 and $1,200, respectively, the total comes out with HSU costing almost $900 less - HSU, $9,300 and Tech, $10,180.
"The hidden costs tell quite a story," Coffield said. "This is just to show that private schools are not necessarily more expensive than public."
Robert Heil, assistant vice president for enrollment for Abilene Christian University, agreed that Christian universities are within reach for the same students considering other publicly funded universities.
"A college education is one of the most important investments a family will ever make," Heil said. "Children of ministers, teachers, small-business owners, single-income families, first-generation college students, and those in many other situations are able to attend ACU."
Eley offered another statistic to buoy the assertion that Christian education

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