The secularization of our Higher Education system is one of the roots of our culture’s problems today. C.S. Lewis anticipated this in The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength, and numerous essays.
Yes. A Great Books education, built on close reading of history’s most formative texts in theology, literature, and philosophy, forms students in wisdom and moral clarity rather than just credentials.
Lewis’s classical education immersed him in the great texts of Western thought long before he became a Christian himself. In fact, he was an avowed atheist through much of his early life.
But that grounding in rigorous reasoning, deep reading, and moral imagination laid the very foundation his mind needed to wrestle honestly with faith. It was this kind of education, not a shortcut around doubt, that led him to the convictions that would define his life’s work.
Yes. C.S. Lewis College is that education, restored. Below, we’ve outlined the six distinctives that set us apart.
These six commitments define the College and set it apart from conventional higher education.
Classes will center on small, discussion based seminars led by faculty who guide students through careful reading and shared inquiry. This method encourages depth of understanding, personal engagement, and communal learning.
Students study the foundational works of Western thought in a structured sequence that spans theology, literature, philosophy, history, and the arts. The curriculum is designed to cultivate wisdom, clarity, and moral imagination.
The College’s Low Residency model blends individual, at-home study throughout the year under, the guidance of a Tutor, with five intense 10-day residencies to provide substantial face-to-face classes, in addition to live plays, dances, and concerts.
The program offers a Master of Arts in Humanities rooted in the classical tradition. Students explore enduring ideas across disciplines while developing advanced skills in interpretation, writing, and critical thinking.
C. S. Lewis College will operate without government funding in order to maintain independence in its mission and integrity in its policies. This commitment ensures full freedom to pursue a distinctly Christian educational vision.
Launching an accredited Christian college requires clearing some major milestones. Here is where we stand on each.
We are incorporated in the State of California (as of 2012) as a nonprofit religious corporation, a category that ensures the ability to teach from a robust, historic understanding of the Christian faith and life.
We have brought together the right team of experienced and diverse Christian leaders and academics to guide this rare and exciting College into a future of powerful service to the Christian community.
CSLC received its IRS approval for tax-exempt 501c3 status in May, 2022, and its State of California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) tax-exempt status in August, 2023.
An impressive and creative Great Books Reading List of literature, history, philosophy, theology, and the arts, stretching from the ancient Middle East, Greece, and Rome all the way to 20th century Europe and North America, has been selected to prepare students to satisfy the requirements for the M.A. in Humanities. Of course, major reading assignments from the Bible are assigned for each of the six terms of the degree program, and C.S. Lewis’s and J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings will be found scattered through the program as well!
A detailed and extensive Business Plan has been assembled to thoroughly explain this unique program and its unusual delivery system (low residency educational format). This plan includes the detailed Budget, Development Plan, Operations Plan, Market Information Survey, Senior Administration and Trustees biographies list, Statement of Faith, Statement on Certain Key Issues of the Day, Questions and Answers, and several additional documents.
C.S.Lewis College has an academic partnership agreement with a highly regarded West Coast Christian university which provides for regionally accredited transcripting of coursework and degrees for the College’s students, fully protecting their academic work from day one.
Listed above are seven milestones that stand between us and our first class. Here’s how far we’ve come.
Your gift helps fund our final steps: state approval, faculty recruitment, and the resources our first students will need.
For donations of $5,000 or more.