Here at Pacific Rim Christian University, we believe in affordable tuition. Our education is less than one-third the national average for a private university and less than our local state university.

We know that the cost of college keeps going up. According to one source, since 1978, the price of college in the United States has increased in absolute dollars by 1120 percent, more than any other good or service in the U.S. economy. The cost of college has grown faster than personal income and financial aid.

How did that happen? History provides us with some clues. Early medieval universities consisted of masters and their students. They could meet in churches, taverns, or public halls. The focus was on teaching and the relationship between the master and the students.

Congregations and churches established early American colleges like Harvard and Yale to educate clergy and community leaders. Most colleges in America were small for the first one hundred fifty years, with between fifty and one hundred fifty students. The colleges had few buildings, and instructors were part-time ministers or medical doctors. OverheadThe overhead was low. The focus was still on teaching and the relationship between the teacher and the students.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, however, things changed. Science rose to prominence, and the German research university was imported into America in the form of a graduate school. Universities hired more and more faculty to conduct research instead of teaching.

Meanwhile, intercollegiate athletics were launched—baseball, basketball, football—largely essentially replacing literary debating societies. Universities built huge athletic complexes and spent a lot of money on sports. As universities grew, they also hired more administrators. Huge administration buildings were built. The cost of facilities and personnel continued to rise.

These increased costs had little to do with classroom teaching and student learning.

According to the College Board, the average tuition of a four-year private college is $33,400 per year. The education here at Pacific Rim Christian University is $9,960, less than one-third the national average.

How do we make higher education so accessible? We do it by focusing on teaching and learning like the first universities centuries ago. We keep it simple. We don’t own any buildings. We share space with a church, and we rent space in a warehouse across the street from the church. And We don’t have an intercollegiate athletic program. We use the products of scholarly research, but we don’t conduct research. We’re a teaching institution.

We have outstanding faculty, staff, and students; they have access to classrooms, offices, a library, a café, and places to worship. In short, we have what we need to be a solid Christian learning community. We save money on all the things we don’t need, and we pass the savings on to our students and their families.