We live in central Mo. We are members of a baptist church outside Rolla Missouri. My youngest daughter is 19 and a very Godly woman. She is not really interested in the ways of the world. My other kids are good kids but she really stands out. We took a trip to Oklahoma city to look at heartland bible Baptist. It seems good but I have a few issues.
 My daughter wants to teach grade school. The credits there are not accredited. I'm assuming that's because they don't teach dei and the garbage the government wants taught. She could teach at a private school but not public.
 The other thing that got me is some of their standards are extreme. My daughter has gone to the gym since she was 12. It's a big deal to her. I'm looking at the handbook and it says to leave campus for a gym you have to have approval from the dean. So I met with the dean and explained. He said we have a small group of boys that compete in powerlifting which is what we do. I said that's great she could go with them so she has a spot and it's safe as a group. Then he shuts me down and says they do not allow male and female to exercise together. They also don't allow students to go anywhere alone. So the only way she could do it is if another girl goes with her and it's a female only gym and she has to meet the dress code which is a skirt. That's ridiculous. This is an adult not a child. I understand safety and some degree of dress code but come on. Basically he said as an activity it's neutral not against it or for but it's not their problem to provide a way.
  I would like to find another place but I don't want to keep her away if it's God's will. I honestly believe the place has nothing but good intentions but this comes across as almost cult like.
 Any other suggestions?

You are talking to the wrong ''Person.''

My wife and I went to a Christian college in Arkansas.  The rules are more stringent than a state school, but not as strict as the one she has picked.  Pick a different school.

There are plenty of good Christian schools that are accredited. Find a school that aligns to her beliefs that is accredited. You have places like Campbell University in NC and places similar across the US.

I went to an extremely strict, very conservative non-denominational Christian college for a year. The rules you described make the school I went to seem like UC Berkeley.

Etbcu in Marshall tx.  This is another option.   I dealt with several graduate students over the years of going to church services.

[Deleted]

You are a good man op.

Orel Robert’s in Tulsa or Jimmy Swaggart Bible college in Baton Rouge
Not Baptist but very good education

Lots of really good bible colleges in the USA. Have her check more than one if them out. My sons checked out a number of colleges before deciding on the college they attend. If working out at a gym is important then bump it up the list of importance when comparing colleges. Any college that won't budge on an issue or work with you on an issue during the recruitment stage is going to be even more inflexible once they have you committed to them. The college is revealing its legalistic bent so you should consider whether that is the Christianity you subscribe to or not?

There's a Jimmy Swaggart Bible College?

I thought he was caught with hookers, and disappeared.

Things are a bit more respectful in this subforum. ;)

I would not be excited about paying for an unaccredited school. I would look closely at requirements to be a teacher in your home state, and see if this degree qualifies.

There’s some good Christian colleges out there.

Moody Bible College, Chicago.
I regularly listen to “Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik”.  He’s a professor there and I have heard him state students living on campus get a tuition free education.

I would personally stay away from prosperity gospel places like Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggert  U.

I am surprised you came to central Oklahoma and didn’t look at OBU in Shawnee.  My step sister got an RN there, and I dated a pianist working on a church music degree. Good school.

BTDT.

Glad I left and got an credited degree Ina lucrative field.  A person can be a Christian anywhere.

That’s close to me, it’s a good school. We went to some theatre productions they put on and it was a lot of fun. Shawnee isn’t a stellar city IMO but I’m probably spoiled living in tiny towns.

OP, if she ends up there and you all need something holler. I could be there pretty quick.

Thank you. I have three other children. The two older girls work in health care. My youngest are twins and her brother is doing HVAC.  They are not bad kids. But this one is different. God has something in-store and I don't want to go wrong.

OBU is a very good religious school.

OBU  would be my pick in OK.

Oral Roberts University graduate school of theology here. My wife was undergrad there and finished at OSU.

I was there in the 80s. I ended up knowing more about the running of the school than I wanted to know and decided to have a change of plan when Oral got his ultimatum from God (that is very tongue in cheek, just in case no one recognizes that) to come up with ~$17.5 million, if I remember correctly.

The school was much stricter on women than men, and Oral's reason for that was being at ORU was probably the first time most of them had been away from home.

I am certain that some things may have changed at ORU over the years, some things may have not. It was never strict in the Bob Jones University way, but it was still strict.

I did my undergrad work at Mississippi State University, and without any doubt, the Christian community at MSU was bolder and more active than that of ORU. Looking back, I would not trade the days at MSU for any Christian school that I know of.

I like the sound of this school

What about Southwest Baptist University in Missouri?  I know they have an elementary education degree.  I don't know what accreditation they have but have this on web site, "SBU's Department of Education receives program approval on an annual basis from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Program approval is current so SBU graduates are able to apply for and receive teaching certification in Missouri."

Missouri Baptist also has an education program.  They have some sort of accreditation posted online.  My kids have taken several dual enrolled cours s from them at Rolla public school."
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

DESE is the administrative arm of the State Board of Education. It is primarily a service agency that works with educators, legislators, government agencies and citizens to maintain a strong public education system.

The university is approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Jefferson City, Mo., for requirements in general education and certification for elementary and secondary teachers; the training of veterans under Public Law 550 and 894, 82nd Congress; and for the training of sons and daughters of deceased veterans under the War Orphan’s Educational Assistance Act.

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)


The Education Division at Missouri Baptist University is granted Accreditation at the initial-licensure level as described in the Accreditation Action Report."


Hannibal LaGrange University is a Baptist University too.  I know it's a Christian based university with an education program.  Several kids from back home went to school there.


If your kid has done A plus their senior year I would see if there is anyway that cost avoidance can be utilized.

Hannibal - LaGrange University

Hannibal MO

Daughter graduated from there.

No problems

You are right to find this odd. What you describe are additions to the yoke of Christ that are not defined by the Bible, Christ worked to remove such yokes/decrees that his yoke would be as light as possible and thus a testament to his glory.

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30

He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:14-15)

Scope this out OP
Harding University

My wife and I attended a well-known Baptist Bible college in southern Wisconsin.  They had similar rules to what you are describing: girls and boys on two distinct sides of campus.  Skirts for girls. A date required a chaperone and a pass from the school .  I would recommend finding a Bible college with a much larger focus on grace and listening to the Holy Spirit's leading and less of a focus on control, lists of bad/off limits things, and required practices.   Modesty and godliness is a mindset, not simply a skirt and a chaperone imposed upon a young person.

Your daughter can do better both in finding a place to help build her faith and actually being accredited.

I have no knowledge of Oral Roberts.

However I would second Jimmy Swaggart Bible College.
As another poster said, Swaggart has his problems. So does everyone else.
Man will abandon you, God will not. Or we would all be on our way to hell.

Anybody that calls them self a Christian should listen to Swaggart now, and what he learned from that experience.
He has a Global network called SBN, People should listen to the talk shows on His channel.

If your not saved you might get Saved, If your Saved and have issues in your life, You may learn how to break the power that sin has over you.
Swaggart teaches on the Holy Spirit, That is something few people know little about.

Jimmy Swaggart?

To misquote Kenobi, "that's a name I haven't heard in a long time".

I believe your daughter should run, not walk away from that school.  As others have said, there are many accredited Christian schools with reasonable expectations of student conduct.

Yeah, that would be a solid "nope" from me, OP.

Check out Spurgeon college in Kansas City that's attached to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, and Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis.

All good, in state Baptist schools that are accredited.

If she wants to teach, even in private schools, she's probably going to want education beyond a bachelors degree.  That's not an option when you get a BA from an unaccredited school.

Hard no on that nonsense.

Have her check out College of the Ozarks. It’s regionally accredited. My oldest is there now and loving it.

Look into Hillsdale, friend.

I heard recently (but not verified) that Hillsdale is incredibly hard to get into.

Great school.

I'll break the trend of suggesting other colleges by suggesting that she not go to college at all, with the possible exception of, lacking other opportunities, going to college to meet a man to marry.