On the Distinctive Function of Christian Higher Education and the Common Good

Despite myriad benefits of higher education to communities and the public at large, a commonplace perception these days is that the most important benefit of higher education centers on what accrues to individual degree earners. Institutions can inadvertently encourage this narrower perception in various ways. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the distinctive function of Christian higher education and to consider how that function might affect contributions to the common good. We outline three contributions to the common good that appear to be connected in important ways to the distinctive function of Christian higher education.