At home in Valdosta, Ga., Derek Broome has cable television and high-speed Internet in his bedroom.

As the high school senior contemplates attending a Christian university — Freed-Hardeman and Faulkner are his top choices — he said he’s definitely checking out the living quarters.

“You see nice things, you have a nice place to stay, it definitely is a big incentive for students,” said Broome, 18, a student at Georgia Christian School. November 1, 2005

At home in Valdosta, Ga., Derek Broome has cable television and high-speed Internet in his bedroom.

As the high school senior contemplates attending a Christian university — Freed-Hardeman and Faulkner are his top choices — he said he’s definitely checking out the living quarters.

“You see nice things, you have a nice place to stay, it definitely is a big incentive for students,” said Broome, 18, a student at Georgia Christian School.

Like Broome, Brandi Sims keeps in touch with friends by e-mail and instant messaging, and frequently uses the Internet for research and homework.

Sims, 17, a senior at the Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis, said she’s leaning toward Harding University. At the Searcy, Ark., university, every room in each of 16 residence halls and apartments is equipped with high-speed Internet, cable TV and individual temperature controls.

“It definitely helps — just the convenience of it, I guess,” Sims said.

ATTRACTING A HIGH-TECH GENERATION

Broome and Sims are part of a tech-savvy, convenience-minded generation forcing church-associated universities to do more than tout the benefits of a Christian education.

To attract these students, universities are embracing campus-wide wireless technology, building Starbucks-style coffee shops, designing apartments with individual student rooms, and — in the case of Oklahoma Christian — giving all students laptop computers when they enroll, a Chronicle survey found.

“Unfortunately, we are in what I call an ‘amenities arms race’ to attract kids who had their own bedrooms at home, grew up on computers and computer games, and have seen the nice dorms and fitness centers at even less-expensive campuses,” said Robert Andringa, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, an association of 105 “Christ-centered” universities whose members include Abilene Christian, Lipscomb and Oklahoma Christian.

THE COST OF ADMISSIONS

With church-associated universities typically costing $16,000 to $25,000 a year, students — and their parents — expect a certain standard of living, said Tod Martin, director of admissions at York College.

“If you don’t have the buildings, it’s real hard to play in that market competitively,” said Martin, whose York, Neb., campus plans to open two new apartment buildings — with all the marvels of the technological age — next semester.

Every university has always had a showcase residence hall or two, said Glenn Dillard, Harding’s top enrollment official.

“But it’s important for high school student guests to see where freshmen will live, not just where the seniors live,” Dillard said.

That’s why, admissions officials said, most universities, including Freed-Hardeman, Ohio Valley and Lipscomb, have renovated housing facilities or built new ones in recent years.

At Abilene Christian, a new residence hall opened this fall — with not just student rooms, but also a coffee shop and classrooms.

At Lubbock Christian, students can sip a cappuccino at the library, then play golf on campus — when a course under construction is finished.

A recent facelift at Rochester College added “kitchenettes” to laundry rooms to make them feel more like home. At Oklahoma Christian, students needing to wash and dry their clothes can do so without a load of quarters — they simply swipe a card to take advantage of “online laundry service.”

JUST ONE FACTOR IN STUDENTS’ DECISIONS

But high school students interviewed by the Chronicle stressed that “amenities,” as Andringa called them, are just one factor in their decisions.

In Broome’s case, for example, where he goes will depend more on which university — if any — offers him a baseball scholarship. Plus, he plans to major in Bible and wants a place that will help him grow his faith.

Sims said the quality of Harding’s nursing program was the determining factor in her decision.

Like Sims, Jennifer Barnett, also a senior at the Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis, spends countless hours on the Internet communicating with friends.

If Harding — which she plans to attend — wasn’t high-tech, that might be a problem, she said. But since it is, she’s more focused on other issues.

“A lot of us have a preference in whether to go to a large or small college,” said Barnett, one of 14 seniors at the St. Louis school, “and a lot of us want to go to a Christian college because there’s less temptation and it’s a better environment to be in.”

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