Prepped for College
Faith Meets the Academy
Christian students arrive on college campuses to discover that the disciplines they came to study often operate inside frameworks that bracket out the questions of faith. Sociology describes communities without asking what they are for. Economics models scarce resources without asking what they are ordered toward. Psychology explains the human person without naming who the human is in relation to.
Prepped for College equips students to enter those disciplines with theological footing intact, the academic content they need to succeed, and the formation to think Christianly about what they are learning.
Available to Annual Subscribers in the Companion Tier
What Prepped for College is
The academy is not the enemy of faith. But the academy has its own commitments, and those commitments are not always made visible to the students working inside them. Christian students who arrive without theological grounding tend to absorb those commitments unconsciously, through the assumed normalcy of how the disciplines proceed.
Prepped for College does not teach students to reject the academic disciplines. It teaches them to engage those disciplines on their own terms while supplying the theological grammar the academy itself rarely provides. Students leave with academic competence and theological clarity about what the disciplines are doing, where their insights are real, and where their assumptions need to be examined against Scripture.
This is not Christian apologetics aimed at the academy. It is the patient theological work of considering the disciplines well, before a student is asked to write papers and take exams that operate inside their assumptions.
Who this is for
Prepped for College is for the parents, youth pastors, and ministry leaders helping Christian students prepare for college. The work of theological formation around the academic disciplines is best done before a student walks into her first lecture, not after she has already begun absorbing what the discipline takes for granted.
Students working through the program acquire two things at once: the academic content needed to succeed in the discipline, and the theological grounding to think faithfully about it.
How the program works
Prepped for College pairs faith-perspective theological lectures with College Level Examination Program (CLEP) preparation. Students enroll in CLEP courses through College Board and work through Prepped for College lectures alongside the CLEP study materials. The two tracks run together: CLEP study prepares the student for the exam; Prepped lectures develop the student's capacity to think theologically about the discipline.
CLEP exams are accepted by a wide range of colleges and universities for college credit. Students who complete the CLEP pathway arrive on campus with credit in hand and a theological framework for the disciplines they are continuing to study.
Enroll in a CLEP course through College Board.
Enroll in the corresponding Prepped for College course.
Work through the Prepped lectures alongside the CLEP study materials.
Available now
Thinking Christian about Sociology
The course tracks the CLEP study materials for Introduction to Sociology with theological lectures on the topics being covered. Students consider sociology's account of human community alongside Scripture's, working through topics including:
- God as a sociological actor
- Economics and the supply of wealth
- Education systems and formation
- Religion as reflection
- A biblical perspective on marriage and family
Course access
Access the full course materials, video lectures, and study guides through our Subscriber community.
See the course →Forthcoming
Courses on psychology, economics, and history are in development.
(Update with current launch timing.)
Frequently asked questions
Is Prepped for College a replacement for college, or a supplement to it?
A supplement. Prepped for College helps students prepare for and earn college credit through CLEP exams while building the theological framework to think faithfully about the disciplines they are studying. Students continue their academic work in college; Prepped equips them to do that work with theological footing.
Who teaches the lectures?
Biblical and theological scholars trained in the relevant fields. Each course's instructor is named on the course page.
Why CLEP?
CLEP exams provide an established, widely recognized pathway to college credit. Prepped for College attaches theological reflection to a credentialing mechanism the academy already accepts, which means students earn real credit while doing real theological work.
Are the courses self-paced?
Yes. Students work through the material at their own pace. The optional weekly Q&A track adds four weeks of live conversation when enrollment supports it.
What is currently available, and what is forthcoming?
Thinking Christian about Sociology is available. Courses in psychology, economics, and history are in development.
Do I need to enroll in CLEP separately?
Yes. CLEP enrollment is handled through College Board. Prepped for College runs alongside CLEP study, not as a replacement for it.
Where to go from here