Pensacola Christian College

This is a Christian college who claims its intent is to educate students in an environment that promotes Biblical principles. The quality of the education I received there was comparible to curricula I've seen from other universities. The professors are very qualified and knowledgeable in their field.

The issue is with PCC's accreditation status. While the engineering program meets technical requirements for ABET accreditation, it has chosen not to pursue it because of certain "faith based" reasons. However,accreditation is quickly becoming the standard requirement for many businesses and graduate schools. Also, many states are restricting engineers with unaccredited degrees from sitting for professional licensure examination (FE and PE). In the college catalog, PCC has stated in the past that it has chosen not to pursue accreditation because of certain "philosophical distinctives." This is an honorable reason, but does not really apply to a major that is primarily applied mathematics and uses secular textbooks already. PCC does help graduates overcome these challenges, but it tends to be a scramble to find loopholes to exploit than a real solution to the problem.Ultimately, a young Cristian's choice to attend PCC should be based primarily on what he believes is God's will for his life. However, a prosepective engineering student must realize that it will be an ongoing challenge to remain competitive in the engineering market with an unaccredited degree.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

I recently sent a review in, but I neglected to explain why I rated security with a C. Please know that when you go to this college, you will not be able to lock the door to your suite. Yes, they lock the doors to the buildings and to the campus after a certain hour, but that does not equal A+ security. Bad people attend and work for Christian Colleges. Unless they have security cameras hidden in hallways (which is not unlikely) not being able to lock the door to your room is a safety breach.Do not bring jewelry and things that have sentimental value or cannot be replaced. Things do get stolen at PCC.

4th Year Female -- Class 2000

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Education Quality: C

Pensacola Christian College provides discount education (although the scholarships available at state or community colleges often make them a less expensive choice)and this is reflected in the quality of their institution. Although many of the departments host motivated and accomplished teachers presenting well thought-out education, the school fails, in most fields, to engage current thoughts and trends. Also, if you are quite intelligent, you will probably be bored to tears with the dull, stupid, even boorish teachers. I am not bragging, but I did score in the 99th percentile on my ACT, and my latest IQ test came in at 168. My GPA at PCC was a measly 3.02. This was largely due to the fact that I already knew what the teachers were going to say before the said it, and why bother doing homework that you were doing in junior high? I recommend PCC only for the intellectually average. The biggest problem with this school is its educational philosophy. No attention is paid to individual students at all, resulting in an "education for the masses" geared toward the greatest common factor, which is again why I don't recommend PCC for smart people. Also, every single one of my classes was little more than a polemic monologue. Every single class is designed to tell yoiu what to think or believe, so if you want to think, or learn how to think, or excercise your self-expression, look elsewhere. Finally, it should be noted that PCC employs a strict code of conduct with a demerits system that greatly hampers the students' lives and adds unneaded stress to an already difficult adjustment. They tell you when to go to bed, when to get up and make your bed, where you can walk, and absolutely NO touching members of the opposite sex. This is thouroughly abnormal and poorly thought out. I would honestly compare this social system to that of Pol Pot or maybe Joseph Stalin. It is completely facist (if you don't believe me, look "facist" up in the dictionary). Most importantly PCC is NOT ACCREDITED!!! Even though I scored a 1480 on my GRE, I am on academic probabtion here at grad school because of this. SOme schools would not even consider my application. Dr. Beemer once addressed this sad state of affairs, and told us proudly that PCC didn't need accredidation, because it "didn't have to meet the world's standard of education". Here's a clue, buddy, yes it does. People don't just flush thousands of dollars down the toilet because its the "cool thing to do". People go to college to get better jobs than they could have elsewhere. People get those jobs in the world. So it is the worlds standard that will determine the usefullness of your institution. Also, PCC blatantly uses this to keep people in line. If you misbehave, you will be expelled, and since none of your credits will transfer, you are left with wasted years of your life, not to mention thousands of dollars. Other than these foibles, and an inability to retain any qualified employees (a doctor of engineering is the DEAN of the seminary?????) PCC is an adequate undergraduate school for those who do not wish to go to grad school, and who do not relish excercising their minds.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000