Belmont Abbey College

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Belmont Abbey College is a small, Catholic Benedictine liberal arts institution. We find our center in Jesus Christ and believe in developing the whole person—body and spirit.
Our mission is to provide an education that will enable our students to lead lives of integrity, succeed professionally, become responsible citizens, and be a blessing to themselves and others. Founded in 1876 by Benedictine monks, we celebrate the 1,500-year-old Benedictine monastic tradition of prayer and learning. Though we are founded on our Catholic, Benedictine traditions, we welcome students' diverse body regardless of religious affiliation.
The Cardinal Newman Society calls Belmont Abbey College one of the top Catholic colleges in America for faithfulness and affordability. First, Things Magazine recently named the Abbey America's #1 "School on the Rise, Filled with Excitement." We have also received a "Top-Tier Ranking" by U.S. News and World Report and recently named "A best Southeastern College" by The Princeton Review.
Located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, NC, Belmont Abbey College is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Abbey is the only Catholic college between northern Virginia and Florida.
We are glad that you are interested in our school, and hope that you will pay us a visit in person. At Belmont Abbey, you will find a physically beautiful campus, a friendly atmosphere, and classes that will stimulate your mind, cultivate your spirit, and gladden your heart. At the Abbey, your classes will be small. Your professors will know you by name. You will get to know your classmates well, and they will get to know you.
When you come to Belmont Abbey College, you come to a school that has been in Belmont for more than one hundred thirty years. You become part of the Catholic intellectual tradition that founded the world's first universities, which continues to animate many of them today. You also partake of the Benedictine tradition of learning and holiness that has been a light to individuals and nations for 1,500 years.
To be part of the Belmont Abbey College community is a privilege and a blessing. We believe that everyone who comes here helps to build up our community of faith and learning. We invite you to join us and to become part of the family that is Belmont Abbey College.
An Abbey education, grounded in the liberal arts, will help you seek, love, and serve the Truth. At Belmont Abbey College, our mission is to cultivate the ideals of excellence, virtue, and faith, so that each generation may soar higher and further than the last. Located near Charlotte, North Carolina, we are private, liberal arts, Catholic college dedicated to faith and reason. Though our academics are of the highest quality, we are also dedicated to keeping higher education affordable. Recognized by the Newman Guide, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review, at the Abbey, you will find a sky full of possibilities that will lead you to your passion and your purpose. Come to the Abbey, find your wings, and fly.
In our day, College and university education are associated with specialized preparation for a career – and as lucrative a one as possible to pay off the high cost of education! With good reason, most students are concerned about one thing: "What should I major in? What program of classes will get me the farthest in life?" Here, "the farthest" is usually defined in terms of finance and sometimes also in terms of personal job satisfaction and social belonging.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of reasoning. We encourage it at Belmont Abbey College by our goal to have you "succeed professionally and be a blessing to yourselves and others." However, this is not the whole story: we have other goals as well: to have you "lead lives of integrity and become responsible citizens." This goal points to areas of life known under the names of ethics, politics, and theology. Are these real subjects taught and learned, or are they strictly matters of individual or family-inherited opinion? There is also the Fine Arts (drama, music, creative writing, etc.): does anybody need to understand them if he is not trying to be an artist? What about mathematics – should they be studied by those who "hate" math? Should English, world literature, or history be forced upon those who "hate" to write papers? Should a young adult be required to learn more about fields that will probably never contribute to their future income?
The Core Curriculum is Belmont Abbey's "yes" answer to all these questions. Many students today object to this: a list of "required courses" resembles High School and sends the message that 17 – 22-year-old persons, living away from their parents, are not yet fully equipped to be their masters, choosing only those courses that fulfill their dreams, as currently embraced at that particular age. We entirely agree that College should be a place to begin to fulfill your dreams beyond what happened in High School. Moreover, one big part of that is filling you with new dreams – by requiring you to study what you may not understand or appreciate. Unlike High School – where the civil governments mandate requirements in each state – at the college level, each institution voluntarily chooses its own set of general requirements to provide a structured education according to that institution's vision. Accreditation pertains primarily to the academic standards of the particular subjects: each College is only obliged to remain faithful to its mission when it comes to the core curriculum. Therefore, core curriculum offerings at any college are a result of faculty competence and availability and the vision of education that guides each particular institution.

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