What the CCCU is

You will see the CCCU’s name on many Christian college websites, and it appears in our own method. The CCCU is an association of colleges, not a church or a government body. Membership tells you something specific and limited. This guide explains what the CCCU says about itself, what membership shows, and how the Compass uses it.

What the CCCU says it is

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities describes itself as a higher education association of Christian institutions. Its mission is to advance Christ-centered higher education. Its website explains its member institutions and how a college applies. Read that page for the current description. Its own figures for the number of members differ from one page to another, so do not rely on a single count from it.

What membership tells you

• The college belongs to the association. The CCCU describes its member institutions as accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities whose missions are Christ-centered and rooted in the historic Christian faith.
• Members share three commitments, which the CCCU lists as integrating biblical truth throughout academic life, the moral and spiritual formation of students, and preparing graduates to serve the common good.

What membership does not tell you

• It does not tell you the college’s denomination. CCCU members come from many traditions.
• It does not show how strong a college’s chapel, curriculum or service is. The Compass measures those from each college’s own sources.
• It is not a ranking, and it is not an endorsement of quality.

Our member list

The Compass uses the CCCU’s public member list, which we copied and checked on October 19, 2026. That copy lists 129 member schools, each with its city, state, website and denomination as the CCCU gives them. It names more than thirty denomination labels, including nondenominational and interdenominational. A few members have no denomination label at all.

Membership matters to how we include colleges. We include four-year colleges that report an evangelical or conservative Protestant affiliation, and a college tied to a mainline church only when it belongs to the CCCU. Our methodology explains the rules in full.

How to use it

1. Check whether the college is a CCCU member, on the CCCU’s site or in the list we copied.
2. Ask the college what membership means for its own students and faculty, and which of the CCCU’s commitments it holds itself to.
3. Then read the college’s own statement of faith, covenant and curriculum, because those are where its practice is described.

Next steps

• Browse Christian colleges and compare the ones you are considering.
• Read Statements of faith and community covenants.
• See church families to learn how colleges group by tradition.