Bringing Education Within Reach

“If any student desires Bible training, no matter where they’re from, we want to make that hope a reality.”

By Spencer MacCuish, President of Eternity Bible College 

If ever there was a case study for challenging the status quo in higher education, it’s the college admissions scandal that’s gripped the news cycle over the last week. Like many of you, I watched as details emerged about families resorting to bribery and fraud to get their kids into elite universities. Even though I laughed at some of the more absurd revelations, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated by this scandal that’s noteworthy for being both shocking and totally unsurprising.

While most of the reaction has understandably focused on the unethical use of wealth to game the system, this whole fiasco also exposes deeper problems with the system itself: higher education is deeply exclusionary.

Without access to financial resources or scholarships, many students find that their only choice is to go deep into debt to earn a college degree. In the case of elite universities with single-digit acceptance rates, the competition has driven families to pour vast resources into tutors, private coaches, and when all else fails, bribes and manipulated athletic photos. All along, young people have been told that even without money they can make it into any top school if they work hard enough, but as this scandal demonstrates, there are other factors in play that keep their dreams out of reach.  

I’m happy to report that no student has ever bribed their way into Eternity Bible College. We don’t give athletic scholarships because we don’t have sports, and no donor has ever bought influence over our admissions process by giving to an elaborate building project.

Of course, we’re a small Bible college without the cultural cache of an elite university. It’s not likely anyone would even try to bribe their way into a college that meets in a strip mall shared with a dentist and a company that sells rare lego sets online, but that’s beside the point.

While our journey has all the makings of a rags to riches story that ends with a state-of-the-art campus and sports programs, I can tell you that we’re not interested in following that script. It’s not that those things are inherently bad, but they cost a lot of money and we don’t want to pass that expense on to students. We’ve made these choices because we believe education, especially biblical education, should be accessible. If any student desires Bible training, no matter where they’re from, we want to make that hope a reality.

To accomplish our vision, we keep tuition low and rely on our generous donors to help cover the rest. We also make scholarships available and adjust tuition for international students from under-resourced areas. Rather than following the trajectory set by other colleges and universities, we’re constantly looking for ways to become even more accessible.

Help us challenge the status quo! We’re raising donations for The Opportunity for Impact scholarship. 100% of the funds collected will go directly to students from under-resourced areas. Follow the link below to make a tax-deductible donation today! 

Global Impact of Eternity

Our commitment to affordable Bible training means students are free to follow God wherever He leads. Where is God calling you?