Private Christian K-12 enrollment is on the rise in recent years. With the many changes that have occurred in public health, politics, and cultural agendas recently, I believe many parents of younger students are choosing to invest in private education that aligns with their values and priorities.  

I have spent my entire professional career in the realm of higher education, far beyond the early formative years of elementary school. In contrast to the recent positive trends in K-12 Christian education, enrollment at many Christian colleges throughout the nation has been on the decline for years. In my current role as Executive Director of the North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals, our researchers concluded that approximately 70% of our member institutions did not meet their enrollment goals for the fall of 2022.

From a child's youngest years, they are asked by adults: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Answers typically include professional athletes, firefighters, astronauts, and doctors, sprinkled with more imaginative outliers like princesses and unicorns.

Our children desperately need models of what it looks like to live and speak within the Christian story. Modeling has always been shown to be the most effective form of moral and religious education. For that reason, parents should want to speak about God continually and place their children around teachers who speak often about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and what they are doing in the world and their lives.