HOUGHTON COLLEGE
Founded: 1883
Main Campus: Houghton, NY
- Houghton is among the very few schools in the nation to offer to repay new students’ education loans. If future graduates earn less than a target amount of annual salary, the school pays back the loans.
- More than half of Houghton College’s electricity is provided by a massive solar power array, the largest campus installation in New York State, which will save millions in power costs.
- Houghton College recently completed a $23 million Kerr-Pegula athletic complex that includes a 107,000 sq. ft. field house that will seat well over 6,000.
- 40% - 50% of Houghton students do a portion of their studies in off-campus programs, most often in well-run international venues.
5. Houghton College was recently named one of the top 100 Affordable Elite Colleges and Universities in the nation by Washington Monthly.
INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Founded: 1920
Main Campus: Marion, IN
- U.S. News and World Report has ranked Indiana Wesleyan University as high as 17th among all Midwestern regional universities.
- By acquiring Wesley Institute, Australia’s leading Christian arts college, Indiana Wesleyan University added a major anchor to international initiatives in China, Africa, and other locations.
- IWU went nineteen seasons in a row without losing a women’s tennis fall-season match.
- Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, founded in 2009, achieved full accreditation in record time, has grown to well over 400 enrolled, and is housed in a new $7 million seminary building.
5. With over 15,000 students (3,000 of these on-campus), Indiana Wesleyan University is the largest private school in the state of Indiana, and the largest of over 100 schools in the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).
KINGSWOOD UNIVERSITY
Founded: 1945
Main Campus: Sussex, NB
- Over half of the Kingswood University students are engaged in ministry over the summer. Students doing internships, mission trips, and forming all kinds of teams are giving service in camps and local churches in the U.S. and Canada and in other locations around the world.
- Although Kingswood University is located in eastern Canada, close to half of its students come from the U.S. from all across the church, making it truly a denominational Bible college. 90% of its full-time faculty are Wesleyan.
- Kingswood University has named a new president this year. Dr. Steve Lennox, a lifelong Wesleyan pastor, religion professor, and leader, had an extraordinary track record at Indiana Wesleyan University for twenty-two years.
- Kingswood University is a single-purpose institution, historically, preparing “workers for the harvest.” Its sole focus is on preparation for vocational Christian ministry, with spiritual formation as a strength.
5. Kingswood has recently retired all debt (millions of dollars) on their iconic chapel, started a Master’s degree program, and saw the largest classes ever graduate.
OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Founded: 1910 (in Calif.)
Main Campus: Bartlesville, OK
- According to the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, Oklahoma Wesleyan had the best professors in the nation for three years in a row. The results came from unsolicited reports of students on the “Rate my Professors” site.
- OKWU is among very few schools in the nation to offer to repay new students’ education loans. If future graduates earn less than a target amount of annual salary, the school pays back the loans.
- OKWU recently won its third national croquet championship in the last five years, besting such teams as the U.S. Naval Academy, The State University of New York, and Princeton University. (There have also been national championships in other sports such as baseball, soccer, and basketball at all our Wesleyan universities.)
- OKWU has recently become totally debt-free, and is therefore able to hold down tuition or increase student aid due to having no debt service in their budget.
5. For twelve years in a row, the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges Guide has ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University a first tier college in the West. The 2015 Guide ranks them the sixth best in the West.
SOUTHERN WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Founded: 1906
Main Campus: Central, SC
- Southern Wesleyan University has a record of being welcoming to minorities. Over 25% of the traditional students are African-American, contributing to healthy diversity on campus.
- Southern Wesleyan University and Houghton College have made the move toward NCAA Divisions II and III, respectively, and are adding major developments to their extracurricular athletic programs.
- The new million-dollar track facility at Southern Wesleyan includes a huge flag and prayer plaza that Senator Lindsay Graham named “one of the best memorials in the state.” A revival among student-athletes has led to many of them being baptized in water-filled steeple-chase pits.
- According to U.S. News and World Report rankings, Southern Wesleyan University has become a strong Tier 2 regional university in the South.
5.The University Singers at Southern Wesleyan University had a unique opportunity to minister in a series of visits to military installations at Ft. Jackson and Parris Island (both in South Carolina). Over a period of two years, they saw more than 9,000 recruits and Marines stand and say ‘yes’ to Jesus.