Only 58% of students are able to finish their bachelor’s degree within six years of enrollment, according to Eric Bierker of The College Transition Group. On average, college students graduate with over $3,000 of credit card debt. The pressure to drink and have sex can be overwhelming. Currently, the college student population has the highest concentration of STDs and has the most abortions each year. In 2005, over 38% of incoming freshman were medicated with anti-depressants.
Despite the efforts of dedicated youth ministry leaders and church budget commitments, some church denominations estimate that up to 75% of graduating seniors who move on from their youth groups do not make healthy spiritual and relational transitions into college.
What the CCO is doing about it: the College Transition Initiative
These are the kinds of concerns that compelled CCO alumnus Walt Mueller and CCO staff member Derek Melleby to develop the College Transition Initiative. Both men have a deep interest in youth culture: Walt founded the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding after spending many years ministering to college students through the CCO. While ministering to students at Elizabethtown College, Derek came on board as CPYU’s first-ever director of the College Transition Initiative, with a goal of equipping high school students with the tools they need to make a successful transition into college life.
The main focus of the College Transition Initiative is a seminar for college-bound high school students and their parents to address the transition from high school to college. Designed to focus on the unique pressures and influences students face in higher education, this seminar helps students and parents face these pressures from a distinctively Christian perspective. Participants are offered encouragement and are equipped to respond with solid and practical tools.
“The College Transition Seminar is the best seminar I’ve experienced for preparing students for the challenges they will face during college life,” says Troy De Bruin, Youth Pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA). “Every student needs this seminar. We wouldn’t send our kids off to war without the proper training, equipment and protection. This seminar provides those necessary preparations for the student headed off to college. I hope that every future graduating high school senior from our church attends this seminar.”
While a seminar cannot prepare a student completely for college, it can begin to paint a realistic picture of the cultural landscape ahead. It can give advice from people that have gone before them about how to navigate deliberately and faithfully in such a setting. It can start a conversation, enabling parents and students to begin to ask the right questions before setting off on the journey.
Click here to find out more about the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, or here to find out more about the College Transition Initiative. And check out Derek Melleby’s blog, chronicling the challenges and trends facing incoming college students.