Develop Your Own College Alternative
With a little help from the Biblical Concourse

Are you looking for a college alternative which is consistent with your family and church values? Perhaps something that can fit seamlessly with your Christian or public high school experience?

It is quite natural, practical and Biblical for a college student to develop their own college alternative under the supervision of their parents, church leaders, and professional mentors.

There is no need to send a young person away from home, or be limited to online course selections, when there is encouragement and help to develop your own courses and curriculum and portfolio of accomplishments.

How it Works

1. Parents and students are first encouraged to understand the current status and effects of institutional higher education on family and faith in our times.

2. The student submits an application.

3. The Concourse office gathers and informs the student of complementary Concourse teachers, friends, courses, libraries, resources, Journal, conferences, internships, meetings, projects, outreaches, and centers which the student may want to use in the development of their curriculum.

4. The student forms a review board comprised of a parent, pastor, and professional in his or her field of interest. The function of this review board is similar to the function of the traditional graduate school committee and accreditation board combined.

5. The student in collaboration with his review board develops a scope and sequence for his first year of college.

6. The student proceeds to accomplish his first year of study and choose complementary Concourse campus and other involvements such as weekly meetings with other students pursuing the same discipline and the mentor for that discipline.

7. At the end of each year, the review board provides feedback, direction and general assessment of student accomplishments, as needed, with review board members cycling in and out as their expertise is helpful to the student.

8. The student completes his higher education goals and demonstrates competency through his or her resume, curriculum vita, portfolio, course certificates, industry certifications, professional exams, work experiences, apprenticeships and or entrepreneurships that were incorporated into their years of study.

Competencies proven through portfolios provide a Biblical approach to credentialing and the equivalency of a degree without compromising the student's family, faith, learning motive, peer environment or professional opportunities.

Why Should Parents Consider the Biblical Concourse?
The short answer is: Christianity, family, money, and the future of our culture. It is well known that secular higher education in our day is promoting anti-Christian ideas, and that students who attend Christian college are leaving the faith at higher rates than those who attend secular universities. It is time to challenge the cultural norms that have removed Christianity from the marketplace and separated families.


How can the Concourse help your family implement Biblical thinking in professions?

1st Provide you with the books and resources that will enable you to implement Biblical thinking in your chosen profession instead of accommodating the world in that profession. These books and resources are being posted on this website under the respective scope and sequence for convenient review and purchase. More of these references are being added in the order in which students request them.

2nd Provide students with professional counsel and tutorials to help set goals, provide insight into difficulties encountered, and make choices between possible methods.

3rd Students and teachers participate in teleconferences and web-based conferences of interest which convey Biblical worldview content toward informing professions and learn of related products and services that would be helpful.

What does it cost?

The overall cost of completing one’s education with the Biblical Concourse is estimated to be one tenth of a four-year public in-state resident college or one 20th of a four-year private resident in-state college. This approximation is based on the 2003-4 Annual Survey of Colleges by The College Board and the Concourse student spending $2,000 per year for Concourse courses and communications plus $800 on books and supplies. No federal funds are used to support the Concourse and student work experiences can be embedded in each curriculum which eliminates the need for loans.

 

"Even now, most persons would admit that the important services their teachers have rendered them are such advice or counsel, given at a chance meeting or in a tutorial." Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, 1970.