Northwest Christian University is a private, liberal arts college

Liberal arts college

A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...

 located in Eugene

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 and is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...

 and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...

ranked it in the top twenty-five baccalaureate colleges in the western United States in its 2011 rankings.

History

The school was founded as a divinity school

Divinity School

Divinity School may refer to:* The common noun, divinity school* When used as a proper noun, may be an abbreviated reference to one of the following:** Beeson Divinity School** Berkeley Divinity School** Brite Divinity School...

 in 1895 by Disciple of Christ preacher Eugene C. Sanderson as the Eugene Divinity School. After a series of name changes and a merger, it became known as Northwest Christian University in 2008.

On December 8, 2009, Dr. Joseph Womack was named as Northwest Christian University's 10th president, taking office on June 1, 2010. Womack is the son of NCU's eighth president, Dr. James Womack, who served from 1986 to 2004.

Location

Northwest Christian University is located in east Eugene, separated from the larger University of Oregon

University of Oregon

-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

 by the width of a single lane street. Founder Eugene Sanders envisioned a school at which students would study the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 and principles of Christian ministry under NCC's faculty, but take other subjects on the neighboring campus, a model he also attempted to set up at Manhattan Christian College

Manhattan Christian College

Manhattan Christian College is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, USA. Manhattan Christian College was founded in 1927 as Christian Workers University. The name was changed to Manhattan Bible College in 1930...

, located near Kansas State University

Kansas State University

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...

. The University of Oregon and Northwest Christian College maintained this arrangement until 1995, when the University of Oregon unilaterally discontinued it, forcing NCC to become a comprehensive liberal arts college. Today, NCU students occasionally take University of Oregon classes, have checkout privileges from Knight Library

Knight Library

Knight Library is the main facility of the University of Oregon's library system. It is located on the university's campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The library design is emblematic of the architecture of the university's older buildings, and it serves as a hub of student activity. As of...

, and take advantage of lectures and other events on the neighboring campus.

Schools, departments and majors

Northwest Christian University is organized into five schools: Arts & Sciences, Business, Christian Ministry, Education & Counseling, and Graduate & Professional Studies. The School of Arts and Sciences houses the departments of Speech Communication

Communication studies

Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...

, English

Language arts

Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....

, Exercise Science, History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, Interdisciplinary Studies, Math, Music Industry, Music Ministry

Christian music

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

 and Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

. The School of Business includes Accounting and Business Administration. The School of Christian Ministry includes the Bible and Theology major and, separately, the Christian Ministry major, with tracks in Pastoral Ministry, Youth Ministry and Missions. The School of Education focuses on Teacher Education

Teacher education

Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community....

.

The School of Graduate and Professional Studies offers graduate degrees in Professional Counseling

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed professional counselor is a licensure for mental health professionals. The exact title varies by state, but the other most frequently used title is licensed mental health counselor . Several U.S. states, including Illinois, Maine, and Tennessee, have implemented a two-tier system whereby...

, School Counseling

School counselor

A school counselor is a counselor and an educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college access, and personal/social competencies to K-12 students...

 and Education, as well as an MBA. It also includes professional credentialing programs in Accounting, Health Care Administration

Health administration

Health administration or healthcare administration is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of hospitals, hospital networks, health care systems, and public health systems...

, Human Services and Management

Management

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

.

Athletics

The school's athletic teams compete as the Beacons in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 (NAIA) and the Cascade Collegiate Conference

Cascade Collegiate Conference

The Cascade Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Member schools are located in the Northwestern United States. Its basketball teams compete in Division II, the lower of the two levels of NAIA basketball competition. ...

 (CCC). Northwest Christian currently fields teams in Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, Women's Softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

and Women's Volleyball, and Men's and Women's Distance Track.

External links

• The Northwest Christian University home page.
• Admissions.
• Beacon Athletics.
• NCU Alumni.