Messiah College was named #43 in the top 50 most affordable Christian colleges and universities by Christian Universities online. The schools on this list have proven to be affordable without sacrificing quality in their programs and resources. In order to be considered in this ranking, each school is either a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) or able to be considered member eligible. (Source: Christian Universities Online).
Christian Universities Online recently named Messiah College the #6 best Christian college visual arts program.
Ranking Process
This ranking endeavors to highlight Christian colleges and universities who offer the very best in Visual Arts programs. Each institution listed is fully accredited and offer programs with unique features that cause it to stand out among the rest in the field of Christian colleges. This list features Christian college visual arts programs that are in the top tier in terms of the quality, value, and overall educational experience they have to offer.
The methodology behind this ranking began with schools that are members or member eligible of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). We then collected publicly available data for these schools in the following categories: 1) Number of undergraduate and graduate visual art degrees, 2) Faculty-to-student ratio, 3) Percent of full-time beginning undergraduates receiving grant or scholarship aid, 4) Selectivity, 5) Overall retention rate and 6) Overall graduation rate. The number of degree programs category received a slightly higher weight with all other categories receiving equal weight in calculating the final ranking.
College Choice recently named Messiah College #9 on its “50 Best Disability Friendly Colleges” list. The Office of Disability Services at Messiah College currently supports and accommodates nearly 200 students with physical, psychological and learning disabilities. As they state, “Messiah College is committed, not only to the legal requirements of the ADA but to the moral and ethical responsibility to treat all members of the community with fairness.” One interesting feature of the services offered at Messiah is the creation of an Accommodation Profile (AP) that is negotiated between the Director of Disability Services and the student seeking aid. Common assistance given as a result of the AP may include extended time on exams, proctored exams, note-taking assistance and alternative text forms. These primary services are free while more specialized assistance is available at the expense of the student.
The Methodology
The ranking highlight universities that have strong programming and solid support services for students with needs including, but not limited to, learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), visual and hearing impairment and those with physical needs that require special access, accommodations, service animals and/or alternative transportation. These exceptional schools are some of the best in the country at committing resources and funding to equipping their students with tools they need to not only become a successful student in the classroom but also a valuable member of the student body as a whole on the campus and in the community. The schools that made the list far exceeded the minimum legal requirements for accessibility and were also evaluated and ranked based on characteristics like academic reputation, student satisfaction, affordability, average financial aid awarded, and return on investment.
See College Choice’s full list and more information about the rankings here.
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Each year, the Messiah College Alumni Association presents the Donald and Anna Zook Alumni Merit Award to a graduating senior. The faculty selects the recipient based on strength of academic record, maturity of Christian faith and character, and contributions of service, leadership, and reconciliation. This morning, Messiah College is honored to present the 2016 Alumni Merit Award to Nicholas Sooy.
The Lilly Graduate Fellows Program is a part of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts that supports outstanding students who want to explore the connections among Christianity, higher education, and the vocation of the teacher-scholar as they pursue graduate degrees in humanities and the arts.
On May 14, Sooy graduated summa cum laude with a double major in philosophy and peace and conflict studies, with minors in psychology and mathematics. His academic accomplishments include leading two directed studies in philosophy of religion, while demonstrating a truly unusual level of creativity, insight and independence of thought.
The ten Fellows were selected by an eight-member selection committee who interviewed sixteen finalists (selected from fifty-six applicants) in April 2016.
The Lilly Graduate Fellows Program is funded by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The program will select a total of ten cohorts of Graduate Fellows from the current ninety-nine schools that make up the Lilly Fellows Program National Network of Church-Related Schools. Lilly Graduate Fellows participate in a three-year program in which they meet regularly with a mentor, attend four conferences, participate in a long-distance colloquium, and receive three annual stipends of $3000 ($9000 total) to use at their discretion. For more information on the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program, visit lillyfellows.org.
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Many Messiah College employees were recognized for their service and contributions to the College at the Employee Recognition Reception on May 4. Celebrating the commitment of our employees is a cherished tradition at Messiah. We gather annually each spring to applaud employees who have reached significant service milestones and to honor our retirees.
Tim Sensenig ’15 (German and English with Secondary Teaching Certification, and former Student Government President) was recently awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to complete an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) abroad. Tim will be teaching English as a second language to middle school students in Hamburg, Germany.
Christina McIntyre ’16 (Politics and International Relations major, with further majors in Sustainability Studies and Community and Urban Development) has been awarded a Fulbright research scholarship to Canada for 2016-17. Christina will be pursuing an MA in Political Science at the University of Toronto, with a thesis on urban housing policy as a means of poverty de-concentration.
Messiah College’s accounting graduates continue to excel on the national CPA exam! Out of more than seventy accounting programs in Pennsylvania, Messiah ranked 3rd in 2015, with a pass rate of 75.9% (national average 55%; PA average 55.4%) for its first-time exam takers. This is just one of the many reasons why our accounting graduates are in such high demand!
Share Faith Magazine recently named Messiah among its top 20 colleges and universities to earn a degree in worship ministry. Share Faith chose schools based on reputation for worship arts offerings, both in facilities and faculty. To see the full list, visit here.
To learn more about Messiah’s programs within the Department of Music, including Music and Worship, click here.
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Brian Swartz, Ph.D., P.E. has been selected by the Central Pennsylvania Engineers Week Council to receive the 2016 Young Engineer of the Year Award. Brian is a member of the Association for Bridge Construction and Design (ABCD) Susquehanna Chapter, the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He is currently the chair of the Department of Engineering at Messiah College.
In 2013, Swartz was hired by Messiah College with a charge to begin a civil engineering program within the existing engineering department.
This past year, he was named the department chair in engineering with oversight of biomedical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental and mechanical programs. In addition to instruction in traditional coursework, Swartz is also actively engaged in the Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research at Messiah College. The Collaboratory partners with
ministries all over the world to provide technical expertise that empowers their mission.
Much of the work is done by student teams, so the real world setting provides an ideal educational opportunity for his students in Engineering. He is most directly connected with bridge design and construction projects in the Collaboratory while also serving with the leadership for the organization.
(Source: The Patriot News)
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D. Ray Hostetter, Messiah’s sixth president, passed away on February 12, 2016.
Hostetter came from a long line of dedicated Messiah faculty and administrators. His grandfather and father both served as presidents, and his mother was both a student and teacher at Messiah.
He caught Messiah fever early, attending the school as a boy. After graduation, he continued his education, receiving a B.A. in History from Greenville College in Illinois and an M.A. from Pennsylvania State University.
After obtaining his master’s degree, Hostetter began his journey as an authoritative figure in higher education at Tabor College in Kansas, teaching and coaching athletic teams.
He eventually left Tabor and returned to Messiah. In the years before serving as president, he taught history and physical education classes. Some years later, Hostetter became the director of development. He became Messiah College’s sixth president in 1964.
In 1965, he returned to school and earned a doctorate in higher education administration from Columbia University in New York. During his studies, the wheels in his mind turned as he envisioned the great potential Messiah could reach.
Messiah College was named #43 in the top 50 most affordable Christian colleges and universities by Christian Universities online. The schools on this list have proven to be affordable without sacrificing quality in their programs and resources. In order to be considered in this ranking, each school is either a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) or able to be considered member eligible. (Source: Christian Universities Online). 
