Best Christian Colleges Minnesota 2023

Best Christian Colleges Minnesota 2023

By James Barham

Published: Apr 13, 2021
Updated: May 22, 2023

For prospective college students looking for schools that align with their Christian faith and demonstrate academic excellence, here are the best Christian colleges and universities in Minnesota.

10 Best Christian Colleges in Minnesota

Macalester College

41%

St. Olaf College

39%

Gustavus Adolphus College

36%

Hamline University

36%

University of St. Thomas

34%

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

28%

Augsburg University

27%

St. Catherine University

24%

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

24%

Bethel University

23%

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

98%

North Central University

94%

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

92%

Bethel University

89%

University of Northwestern – St. Paul

82%

Augsburg University

76%

University of St. Thomas

76%

Hamline University

76%

St. Catherine University

75%

College of St. Scholastica

74%

Concordia University, St. Paul

20 to 1

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

18 to 1

University of Northwestern – St. Paul

18 to 1

16 to 1

North Central University

15 to 1

College of St. Scholastica

14 to 1

University of St. Thomas

14 to 1

Augsburg University

13 to 1

Hamline University

13 to 1

Gustavus Adolphus College

12 to 1

Macalester College

$60,518

St. Olaf College

$52,670

Gustavus Adolphus College

$50,490

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

$50,126

University of St. Thomas

$48,329

St. Catherine University

$46,494

Hamline University

$46,221

Augsburg University

$41,007

Bethel University

$40,080

College of St. Scholastica

$39,410

University of St. Thomas

$23,503

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

$19,920

St. Catherine University

$17,100

College of St. Scholastica

$14,182

Augsburg University

$13,500

Bethel University

$11,700

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

$10,890

$10,350

North Central University

$10,260

Hamline University

$10,120

Concordia University, St. Paul

14%

14%

Bethany Lutheran College

15%

North Central University

20%

College of St. Scholastica

20%

Concordia College

21%

University of Northwestern – St. Paul

23%

Bethel University

23%

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

24%

St. Catherine University

24%

Macalester College

31%

St. Olaf College

47%

Bethany Lutheran College

61%

65%

Concordia University, St. Paul

68%

Concordia College

72%

Gustavus Adolphus College

73%

College of St. Scholastica

74%

St. Catherine University

75%

Hamline University

76%

Macalester College

10 to 1

Bethany Lutheran College

11 to 1

St. Catherine University

11 to 1

Concordia College

11 to 1

Gustavus Adolphus College

12 to 1

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

12 to 1

St. Olaf College

12 to 1

Bethel University

12 to 1

Augsburg University

13 to 1

Hamline University

13 to 1

Concordia University, St. Paul

$23,900

North Central University

$27,200

Concordia College

$28,016

$28,110

Bethany Lutheran College

$28,660

University of Northwestern – St. Paul

$34,180

College of St. Scholastica

$39,410

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

$39,410

Bethel University

$40,080

Augsburg University

$41,007

Concordia University, St. Paul

$8,550

University of Northwestern – St. Paul

$8,982

Bethany Lutheran College

$9,900

Concordia College

$9,990

Hamline University

$10,120

North Central University

$10,260

$10,350

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

$10,890

Bethel University

$11,700

Augsburg University

$13,500

Table of Contents

Colleges and Universities in Minnesota

One of largest public higher education institutes in the country, the University of Minnesota has main campuses in both of the Twin Cities, Saint Paul and Minneapolis. This school costs about $15,000 in tuition, and provides its students with competitive programs in fields like nursing, education, economics, and psychology. And the options don’t stop there. There are more than 20 schools in the state with religious affiliations, including larger schools like the University of St. Thomas, which campuses in both Twin Cities, and smaller schools like Oak Hills Christian College in Bemidji.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

For students striving to keep costs low in a smaller school environment, Southwest Minnesota State University offers tuition below the national average and serves about 3,500 students. Additionally, those on track to become a teacher or health care provider may be eligible for one of Minnesota’s loan forgiveness programs after graduation. Minnesota also boasts a large network of private colleges, two of which, Walden University and Capella University, primarily cater to online students.

Ever heard the phrase, There’s an app for that? Well, in Minnesota they say something similar, There’s a festival for that. This fun state doesn’t hold back when it comes to celebrating. With events like the Grumpy Old Men Festival, World Festival, and the Perham Turtle Fest, students earning their degrees at one of Minnesota’s more than 70 colleges won’t miss out on a good time.

Discover some of Minnesota’s top programs and learn how you can earn your associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree while cashing in on some of this state’s unique experiences.

What are Minnesota’s Colleges & Universities?

Minnesota’s Best Overall

The following list of the best Christian schools consists entirely of colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 17 Christian colleges in Minnesota. In order to be included in this ranking list of best Christian colleges and universities, a school must self-identify as Christian, be fully accredited, and offer a broad range of bachelor degree programs.

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How do we determine Minnesota's best Christian colleges and universities?

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

Best Christian Colleges in Minnesota 2022

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Minnesota’s Best Christian Colleges in Your Area of Interest

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.