College Search Advice

About Contact Join Donate

Back

The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College

College Search Advice

Click here to order your copy of The Newman Guide (including My Future, My Faith).

My Future, My Faith

Catholic families have been asking for more information on the importance of a faithful Catholic education, how to search for a faithful Catholic college and how students can sustain their faith once on campus.

New for the 2013-2013 edition of The Newman Guide is an expanded companion magazine, My Future, My Faith. This full-color magazine, which is also published free online, features more than a dozen articles designed to help parents and students navigate the transition from high school to college.

Among the featured articles are “Why Choose a Catholic College” by Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, “How to Know Which College Is Right for You” and “Fidelity Matters: Catholic Colleges Are Not All the Same” by Father C. John McCloskey.

Other topics include tips for getting into a good college, how to write an exceptional application essay, the keys to making a campus visit, and an important article on paying for college. Dr. Peter Kreeft’s popular essay on why philosophy and theology are important is also included in this edition.

For the first time we also include articles on strategies for sustaining and growing your faith on campus, suggested rules for campus dating, and an article from our friends at FOCUS on why successful and happy students pursue chastity, sobriety and excellence.

The Importance of a

Faithful Catholic Education

Why Choose a Catholic College?

Archbishop Lori Most students go to college eager to learn—especially to prepare for a career—and to make some good friends along the way. Surely these are good things, but a Catholic education offers that and so much more. A Catholic education is not only preparation for a career, but preparation for the rest of your life.
Read more...

by Most Rev. William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore

Fidelity Matters... A Lot: Catholic Colleges Are Not All the Same

Given what is at stake, the choice of a college for one’s child should be an overriding concern of any Catholic parent. The university is usually the last place to form the pre-adult Catholic. The important transition between the teen years and young adulthood should be one from dependence to responsible independence ... most especially the moral and the spiritual.
Read more...
by Father John McCloskey

It's About Navigating Life: The Importance of Philosophy & Theology

Here is one of the clearest criteria for choosing or judging a college: you can be almost certain that any college that has dropped philosophy and theology from its core curriculum is not serious about a liberal arts education ... What are philosophy and theology, and why are they crucial to a young person’s education today?
Read more...

by Dr. Peter Kreeft

Searching for and Choosing

Your Catholic College

So Many Choices: How to Know Which College Is Right for You

Searching for a college doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does take a lot of thought, soul searching and work. You will spend four years and countless thousands of dollars on whichever college campus you choose, so make sure that it not only helps you start a career but that it also prepares you for life.
Read more...

by CNS Staff

College Search Timeline

There are many steps in the college search and application process, and students should start planning for them ahead of time. Even at the beginning of junior year, there are many things you can do. You can start making a list of colleges you are interested in...
Read more...

by CNS Staff

Getting Into a Good Catholic College: 5 Things You Need to Know

Sure, finding the right college is important. But how does a student get accepted? It’s the all-important question for many families. The first thing to realize is that the answer is not always the same for every college ... [H]ere are five helpful tips that may surprise you ...
Read more...

PLUS: One More Tip For Homeschoolers

by Matt Archbold

Big Money, Hard Choices

Although the primary concerns ... with college-bound men and women should be their exposure to truth and their continuing formation in the likeness of Christ, there are obvious financial considerations with every college decision. These include career planning, paying tuition and related expenses, and choosing colleges that reasonably match your ability to pay.
Read more...

by Phil Lenahan

College Applications: Steps to an Exceptional Essay

So, you’re in the midst of the application process, and the time has come for you to write … The Essay. Don’t panic, but do be aware that most colleges and universities require one or more essays be submitted along with the usual transcript, scores, and recommendations.
Read more...

by Andrew Pudewa

The All-Important Campus Visit

It would be hard to overstate the importance of making a thorough campus visit before choosing to attend a college or university. And this visit should include an official tour, your own efforts to talk to other students and professors, and at least one night spent in the dorms on a Friday or Saturday.
Read more...

by CNS Staff

Sustaining Faith and Virtue

on Campus

A Checklist for Growing Your Faith

There are frequent opportunities for you to have a personal encounter with Jesus on campus. This occurs most immediately in the Eucharist. Regular Mass attendance helps strengthen your faith through the Scriptures, the Creed, other prayers, sacred music, the homily, receiving Communion and being part of a faith community.
Read more...

by Most Rev. David Ricken, Bishop of Green Bay

10 Rules 4 Campus Dating

Chances are that if God is calling you to marriage, you will find your spouse during college. But “dating” on too many college campuses is fraught with danger if you don’t have a plan that keeps your faith and future front and center. Here are 10 rules to help guide you on your journey.
Read more...

by Father John McCloskey

Tips for Keeping Your Faith Alive in College

College is a time of new beginnings, first explorations, and novel experiences. It is also a time of crisis, a turning point, a time of decision, where the direction of travel of adult life is undertaken... The Church recognizes that college can be a key moment in a person’s spiritual journey.
Read more...

by Dr. Christopher Kaczor

Blessings and Pitfalls of Dorm Life

Does the residence life at the college you will attend encourage virtue and chastity and help you grow in faith, or is it likely to be a four-year temptation to be a part of the same hook-up culture that has been at the heart of so much heartache?
Read more...

by Kathryn Lopez

The Happy and Successful Student: Sober and Chaste

Sadly it’s not unusual for college students to develop unhealthy relationships and engage in unhealthy behaviors. It will be up to you, with God’s help, to stay on the good path—the path of chastity, sobriety, and excellence.
Read more...

by FOCUS Staff