College & Career Preparedness: How Do Classical Alumni Measure Up?

If you are new to this series of posts, please check out these two posts that explain the Good Soil Report (LINK HERE) and the math behind the report.

It used to happen at the mailbox, but now I just hear an excited scream from somewhere in the house. Suddenly, one of the girls rushes upon us and says, “I got in!” It used to be “fat letters” and “skinny letters” in the mail. The larger ones meant that you got accepted to college; the slighter letters were often rejections.

It's a momentous time for a family, and for a teenager- on the cusp of high school's conclusion, determining where the next phase of the journey will take them. As exciting as it can be, it's often fraught with anxiety. Will they get into the colleges they're really hoping for? Will we get good scholarships to cover the cost? Will all the hard work put in during high school pay off with a good school, and ultimately a good career?

For a K-12 school like Veritas, each graduating class brings a similar level of excitement. We've walked with may of these students and watched them grow and mature over 12 years. We explore, advise, wait, and rejoice with them when those college acceptances start rolling in. 

A Method That Pays Off

When the classical and Christian schooling movement was starting, we all felt like things were going really well, but in the back of our minds all of us were wondering, “Will these kids really be ready for college and career?” I started at Veritas before I had children, so I sort of had a preview of this by watching many alumni go off to college and get involved in their careers. When I thought of my daughter’s education, I knew they would be ready.

Sadly, in our culture, fewer and fewer students are truly ready for the challenging work at college. In the long run, our country pays a high price because too much of many students’ time in college is spent doing remedial work. This often pushes college into a five- or six-year proposition — one in which the student accumulates more debt! This debt often delays homeownership and marriage. All bad social and life outcomes!

That is why I was so excited to dig into the Good Soil Report’s first index: College and Career Readiness.

Now, some might maintain that the point of an education is something nobler than just getting into college or finding a good career. I agree. Education should be forming a person—we hope a believing person—into a person who has rightly formed loves and is fitted to be very far from a utilitarian view of life. We long to see students who are motivated to love, serve, and think about God, the world, and their neighbors.

Still, the old preachers used to talk about usefulness when they talked about God preparing a person for a calling. Parents and students are wise to consider whether the education that they receive forms and prepares them for God’s calling on their lives. That is why the Good Soil Report's findings are so encouraging. Here is a graph of the data:

This chart shows that 32% more Classical Christian Students (ACCS) responded with answers that were above the median when asked questions about preparedness, grades in college, GPA, and whether or not they earned a degree (The next highest report of preparedness was Private Prep Schools at 7%).

Want to better understand this median index? Click here for information on this data.

This, however, is where things get even more interesting if you dig down into a couple of questions that went into the creation of the index. First, let’s look at “Earning A’s and B’s in college”:

On that measure, the Classical Christian alumni, the homeschool alumni and the Private Prep alumni are pretty close (especially with the Red Bars of Adjusted Data). The Public Catholic, and Evangelical School options lag far behind (i.e., they struggle to make A’s and B’s in college). There is another question about earning a BA or higher. Here is that graph:

At this point, the difference is stark. Both Classical Christian and Homeschool students earn good grades in college. The Classical Christian alumni, however, finish their degree more than Prep School students and much more than Homeschool students.

So, what is the bottom line? If you want to give your son or daughter an education that prepares them to thrive and excel academically, Classical Christian education is a fabulous option. Students in ACCS, Classical Christian Schools, are, more than any other option surveyed, prepared to thrive academically and to earn their degree at the next level.

Do you want your child to be prepared for college and career? If so, you should look into Classical Christian Schooling, and if you live in Lancaster County, we invite you to check out Veritas Academy. As a fully accredited charter member of the Association of Classical Christian schools, we stand by our commitment to help mold kids into loving, serving, thinking students who are uniquely and fully equipped for God's calling on their lives.

Attend our Virtual Open House or schedule a private in-person tour today! We look forward to meeting you!

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