Reply #31: Sometimes it's financial

[Southpaw Bookworm]

It's the only school their parents will pay for them to attend, and they've been so insulated from reality in their Christian high school or homeschooling situation that they don't realize that federal financial aid even exists.

Also, for many of these kids questioning their parents or their church is completely outside their realm of experience. If their parents tell them to pick a Christian college, it would not even occur to them to look at other schools. Fear has a lot to do with it as well: You would not believe the lies you'd hear about "secular" institutions (for them, that would include schools like Georgetown or Brown that are affiliated with churches, but aren't of the fundamentalist sort). They are taught that they'll be ostracized in class and in the dorms for their beliefs, that Satanists roam the campuses for sacrifices, and that rape is as common as the Scantron sheet.