Another Megachurch to Open College

An evangelical megachurch with multiple locations across North Carolina plans to open a college this coming fall, in partnership with Southeastern University, a Christian institution in Florida.

Elevation Church announced that the new institution would offer two associate and eight bachelor’s programs, including ministerial leadership, biblical studies and digital media and design. Classes, a combination of regular SEU courses and those exclusive to Elevation students, will be delivered in online and hybrid formats.

However, students will be required to live in Charlotte, N.C., to participate in the programs and to complete “practicum experiences” at the megachurch.

“Through our Practicum Experience, students step into meaningful, hands-on opportunities each week, serving alongside Elevation Church staff and leaders while developing as servant leaders who love God and people,” the college’s website states. “Students can gain practical experience tailored to their degree program in areas like worship, production, youth ministry, creative, and campus ministry. Under the guidance of mentors, students are placed on ministry teams where they’ll receive coaching, weekly development, and real responsibility.”

Historically, a huge number of U.S. colleges and universities were founded in partnership with churches or began as seminaries. In recent years, a handful of megachurches—a relatively modern term referring to churches with particularly large buildings and weekly attendance of 2,000 people or more—have dipped their toes into education. For example, Highlands College, which was created by the Church of the Highlands, the largest church in Alabama, opened its doors in fall 2023. While the college was originally founded to train ministers for the Church of the Highlands, the institution has since branched out, announcing this year that it would launch a business school.

Celebration Church, a megachurch in Texas, launched a small institution called Austin Christian University in 2023 with just two dozen students. But the university, which is focused on Christian business education, has grown to enroll 63 students this past spring. Megachurches are also opening K–12 schools, such as Dream City Christian Academy, a school with nearly 800 students operated by Dream City Church in Phoenix.

Both Highlands College and Austin Christian University have benefited from massive donations, Stateline reported. The family of Hobby Lobby founder David Gren donated $20 million to Highlands to fund the institution’s residence halls, and in March Austin Christian broke ground on a student center and 750-seat auditorium funded by a $50 million donation from Roger Bringmann, a vice president at Nvidia.

In addition to Elevation, Southeastern University has more than 200 other branch campuses affiliated with churches across the country. Although SEU requires its students to adhere to a “community covenant” of standards, such as refraining from “all sexually immoral behavior”—including “lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender behavior”—Elevation College students are not subject to the same policies, according to Carolina Public Press, which first reported the story last week.

“As a partner site, Elevation College operates within an alignment of shared organizational values,” Patrick Fitzgerald, SEU’s chief of staff, told Carolina Public Press in a written statement. “Southeastern University (SEU) does not impose its specific university-wide lifestyle policies, scriptural standards, or community covenants onto Elevation College students, nor do we ‘police’ their student body. Instead, we purposefully partner with churches like Elevation that already possess like-minded theological stances, strong institutional integrity, and a shared spiritual vision. Elevation College maintains its own environment and culture appropriate to its local church context.”

The outlet noted that Elevation Church’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues is unclear, although in 2018, a musician who had worked with Elevation reported he had been asked to step down from his role because of his sexuality.

Elevation College will charge students $19,936 a year, including $8,136 for tuition, $6,800 for housing, and a $5,000 annual “site fee,” which the college’s website says “supports what makes Elevation College unique—ministry training, leadership development, classroom space, spiritual formation, and student programming.” Fitzgerald told Ministry Watch, a publication targeted at those who donate to Christian ministries, that SEU had been able to lower its tuition costs because of its many partnerships with churches around the country.