by Sandy » Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:47 pm
BPC is a relatively small school, even compared to other colleges operated by Baptist state conventions. Wikipedia says enrollment is just a little over 1,100, and the course offerings look comparatively small. It has also been through some issues related to its finances, Pell grants specifically, which led to accreditation investigations and probation. It's hard for small schools to sustain enrollment and finances when things like that happen. There's a balance between the kind of students they attract, and the the tuition they can pay, modified by the grants, scholarships and other financial aid that is available, and the loans they have to secure. I would guess the enrollment trajectory of this school, with the issues surrounding it, has been headed downward. So I would agree with William in that the trustees are looking for the star power of a new president's ability to attract students and increase enrollment, probably to save the college from closing.
The "niche" of Christian education, from day care and preschool, through the grade levels to college, is its philosophical approach to training the mind. I don't know where Brewton Parker stood with regard to its commitment to a distinctively Christian educational philosophy, but the bottom line in attracting students is in distinguishing its curriculum and atmosphere from that of the secular, humanistic philosophy of the state university systems, and the moral atmosphere that pervades those campuses. Otherwise, what's the real difference between the schools, except that the state universities have the finances to offer more in the way of career preparation in their curriculum? A lot of small, denominationally based schools have closed over the past thirty years, including at least one school related to Georgia Baptists. This looks like a do or die move. Liberty University is attracting students based on a distinctively Christian educational philosophy, and a campus atmosphere that is Christian, and BPC is in its backyard when it comes to location.