Choosing a Catholic College

Disclaimer: I do not have a child who is looking at any Catholic colleges right now...at least not as a first choice. Since my firstborn is hoping to go to a music conservatory, and there are very few Catholic music schools in the US, we are limited. But we did see Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, speak last week about the new book called Choosing a Catholic College. The book reviews only those colleges with a true Catholic identity...and a few that are trying hard to be Catholic.


Of those in the book, Catholic University has a music school (the Rome School of Music), so we visited CUA last Friday, and had a wonderful time. One graduate student spoke to us at length, explaining that she had become a Catholic as a student there...the faculty was welcoming, and we were even allowed to sit in on a private lesson with the violin professor. Libby knows the dean of the music school from Aspen, where he heads the conducting program. He answered all our questions.

But back to the book. So the book has what most big guides don't: Answers to questions that we Catholic parents have about the schools...things like pro-life (or anti-life) organizations on campus, single-sex housing options, theology offerings, the presence of religious on campus, ex corde ecclesiae information, and more. It is a resource that Catholic parents should look at more than once, especially if more than one child will be heading to college soon.