Liberty University: Ranking, Accreditation, and Academic Overview

Liberty University (LU), a private, non-profit, Christian institution, has grown into one of the world’s largest Christian universities and the country’s largest private non-profit institution by student enrollment. Founded in 1971 in Lynchburg, Virginia, by Jerry Falwell Sr., a prominent Baptist minister and political activist, and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty University is dedicated to academic excellence and educating students to act as Champions for Christ. This article delves into Liberty University's ranking, accreditation, and academic environment, providing a comprehensive overview for prospective students and those interested in the institution.

A Brief History

Originally named Lynchburg Baptist College, the institution underwent name changes to Liberty Baptist College in 1976 and finally to Liberty University in 1984. Liberty began offering online programs in 1985 and has since expanded to serve over 47,000 students on its 7,000-acre campus and more than 100,000 students online, representing all 50 states and over 75 countries.

Accreditation: Ensuring Quality and Recognition

Liberty University holds institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This accreditation authorizes the university to award associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. The regional accreditation affirms that Liberty University meets established standards of quality and effectiveness as an institution of higher education.

In addition to institutional accreditation, certain specialized programs at Liberty University may have separate programmatic accreditations. These approvals further validate the quality of specific disciplines and can be an important factor for students seeking careers that require specialized credentials or licensure. Liberty's school of business is accredited by ACBSP.

Rankings and Recognition

Liberty University's ranking has varied across different publications. U.S. News & World Report ranks Liberty University number 139 in its Best Online MBA Programs publication. In 2017, Forbes's list of America's Top Colleges ranked Liberty University No. 585 of 650 "Top Colleges", No. 231 as a "Research University", 371 as a "Private College", and 136 "in the South".

Read also: Liberty University Fees

Academic Structure and Programs

Liberty University consists of 17 colleges, including the Helms School of Government and the Rawlings School of Divinity. It offers a wide array of programs, from vocational education to doctoral degrees.

Rawlings School of Divinity

Within the Rawlings School, Liberty Theological Seminary administers the graduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and certificate divinity programs. The 275-foot-tall Freedom Tower is home to the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, the nation’s largest center for religious studies and ministerial training, includes classrooms and offices, a conference room, a homiletics lab, and an interactive classroom, as well as observation spaces to take in the spectacular views of campus.

School of Business

The School of Business at Liberty University offers 46 bachelor's, 67 master's, and 14 doctoral degrees. The three-story structure serves as a home base for the School of Business, which includes 152 programs from the certificate to the doctoral level, as well as centers of excellence focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, cybersecurity, and stock trading. On the first floor, a stock trading simulation room, operating in partnership with Truist, features an LED stock ticker that wraps around the top of the room and streams the latest market activity from Wall Street. In 2019, the School of Business was nearing completion of a new 78,000-sq.-ft.

School of Behavioral Sciences

The School of Behavioral Sciences includes four departments: Community Care & Counseling, Counselor Education & Family Studies, Psychology, and Social Work. The Community Care & Counseling department offers 28 master's degrees and four doctoral degrees. The Counselor Education & Family Studies department offers five master's degrees and one doctoral degree. The Psychology department offers two associate degrees, 14 bachelor's degrees, six master's degrees, and six doctoral degrees. The Social Work department offers one bachelor's degree.

School of Communication & the Arts

The School of Communication & the Arts has five departments: Cinematic Arts, Digital Media and Journalism, Strategic and Personal Communication, Studio & Digital Arts, and Theatre Arts. Tower Theater is home to Liberty’s Department of Theatre Arts as well as the professional theatre company, Alluvion Stage Company. Tower Theater features a Broadway-style fly tower and professional rigging system and has over 12,000 square feet of backstage and support area.

Read also: History of Liberty's Flames

School of Music

The departments of worship and music studies and of music and humanities merged in 2012 into a school of music, composed of two distinct centers. The School of Music offers 32 bachelor's degrees, 15 master's degrees, and four doctoral degrees. The Center for Music and the Worship Arts features 124 Steinway pianos and 43 teaching studios complete with piano, songwriting, and music computer labs. Additionally, the center includes a 1,600-seat concert hall.

Online Programs

Liberty University offers some programs fully via distance education at the undergraduate level and at the graduate level. The majority of the online courses are eight weeks long. Some programs require students to visit the campus for one or two weeks a year for face-to-face instruction. News and World Report ranks Liberty University number 139 in its Best Online MBA Programs publication. The School of Business at Liberty University offers an online Master of Business Administration with specialization in Healthcare Management. The program is 100 percent online and expands the current knowledge and experience of students. The program builds on core business principles and allows students to gain an in-depth understanding of how business administration applies to healthcare management. It focuses on professional, financial, and ethical situations that occur often in the healthcare field.

Other Academic Facilities

The Center for Medical and Health Sciences (CMHS) is a state-of-the-art modern learning facility for Liberty University's College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) and School of Health Sciences. Sitting on Liberty Mountain, the 140,000 square-foot, four-story facility offers breathtaking views of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north and west. The Center for Natural Sciences houses classrooms, an auditorium, and more than 30 laboratories designed for hands-on learning, including an advanced anatomy lab and a cell culture lab. The facility has more than $2 million in equipment, including a GC mass spectrometer and a gene sequencer. As the primary academic building on campus, Arthur S. DeMoss Hall spans 500,000 square feet over four floors and houses computer labs, classrooms and student resource centers, and a rooftop terrace. Jerry Falwell Library houses an array of study spaces including six learning commons, one technology commons, and 30 group-study rooms. Multiple terraces and balconies provide additional space to relax, and several dining options are available. Taking advantage of the latest technology, the ASRS, a robotic retrieval system, houses the majority of the library’s collections in a state-of-the-art automated on-site retrieval system. The four-story, 170,000-square-foot Jerry Falwell Library opened in January 2014 with more than 250,000 items and room for another 170,000. They are accessible via a robot-assisted storage and retrieval system, which locates requested items within a large storage room and delivers them to the front desk. There are 150 public computers throughout the building for electronic archive research. The library has group study rooms, writable walls, balconies, terraces, and a vegetative roof.

Campus Life and Facilities

Liberty University offers a wide array of facilities to support its students' academic, recreational, and spiritual growth.

Academic and Recreational Buildings

Located directly behind Arthur S. DeMoss Hall, the Montview Student Union is a 4-story, 168,000-square-foot structure that includes a lounge overlooking the Academic Commons, retail dining venues, an art gallery, a ballroom, and a bowling alley. The building also has space for academics, meetings, and offices. The Liberty Baseball Stadium features the latest turf playing surface, as well as full-length, major league-style dugouts, a fully-equipped media area, two suites, a club room, and a spectator picnic area. The LaHaye Ice Center is home to Liberty men's and women's hockey teams, as well as the synchronized skating and figure skating teams. Recently renovated, the ice center seats 4,000 fans and includes 10 box suites. The recreation center has weight rooms, cardio lofts, private classrooms, an indoor track, pools, a rock wall, soccer fields, and basketball courts. The Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre offers students the opportunity to ski, snowboard, and tube year-round with its cutting-edge terrain technology. Williams Stadium also boasts a 110-foot viewing tower and houses the Football Operations Center, containing locker rooms, coaches’ offices, equipment, and weight rooms, and a training facility.

Dining and Residential Facilities

The Reber-Thomas Dining Center (Liberty’s dining hall) is a two-story, 120,000-square-foot all-you-care-to-eat buffet that boasts a seating capacity of more than 2,700. It provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner and offers over 20 unique stations to choose from. The Residential Commons are comprised of three residence halls. The rooms feature a private bath, and every floor provides laundry facilities and a common lounge. Additional residential facilities are also planned for the site. In particular, Liberty University provides on-campus housing and the total dormitory capacity, whether on or off campus, was about 8,222 students in the 2021 academic year.

Library Resources

Liberty University's library has 3 branches. In 2021 the library reported 356,288 physical volumes, 180,873 physical media, 258,370 digital/electronic media and 413 licensed digital/electronic databases. The library is managed by a total number of 126 full-time employees, including 29 librarians. Liberty University's library has a total library expenditure greater than $100,000 per year.

Student Life and Culture

Liberty University is a conservative Evangelical college, which is reflected in its honor code and other policies. Three bible studies courses are required during the first year for undergraduate students. About 32 percent of classes have fewer than 20 students. There are more than 2,500 full and part-time faculty. The freshman retention rate is 80 percent. Liberty University also hosts regular convocation, where students are able to attend various types a week that features various visiting speakers. Attendance is mandatory for residential undergraduate and graduate students and commuter students under 21 years of age. They must report to their assigned Resident Assistant and sit in their assigned section, though they may skip Convocation once per semester if they notify their Resident Assistant at least 24 hours in advance. Convocation guests have included pastors, athletes, motivational speakers, and political speakers, who are usually conservative.

The "Liberty Way"

Its honor code, called the "Liberty Way", prohibits premarital sex, cohabitation, any kind of romantic relationship between members of the same sex, and alcohol use. It places a strong emphasis on creationism. Words and actions indicating "LGBT states of mind" are prohibited for students as of the 2021 version of The Liberty Way, the student handbook. Sexual relations are only permitted in a Biblically ordained marriage between a man and a woman. The school says it does not engage in unlawful discrimination or harassment because of race, color, ancestry, religion, age, sex, national origin, pregnancy or childbirth, disability or military veteran status.

Admissions

Prospective students seeking admission to Liberty University must have completed a high school education or possess a General Educational Development (GED) certificate. A secondary school transcript is necessary, and while a specific GPA is required, ranking within the graduating class is recommended but not mandatory. Although Liberty University does not require an entrance examination, submission of admission test scores is recommended, and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is mandatory for applicants whose primary language is not English. The institution does not operate under an open admission policy. Dual credit enrollment is not permitted, but the university does offer college credit for qualifying Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Liberty University welcomes transfer students each term, including fall, winter, spring, and summer sessions. The institution has a relatively low level of difficulty for admission, making the transfer process accessible for many applicants. Liberty University also accepts recommendations as part of the application process, supporting a comprehensive evaluation of prospective students. The university does accept transfer credits, facilitating a smoother transition for students moving from other institutions. Liberty University requires prospective students to pay an application fee, which helps cover the processing costs associated with admissions. The fee must be submitted alongside the application form. Students who face financial hardship or meet specific eligibility criteria may request a waiver to have this fee reduced or eliminated. To obtain a fee waiver, prospective applicants typically need to demonstrate financial need, often through documentation such as fee waiver forms provided by high school counselors or evidence of participation in certain federal assistance programs.

Athletics

Liberty's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Liberty Flames. Liberty is a member of the Conference USA for 17 of its 20 varsity sports. Liberty University has men's and women's club ice hockey teams. The Liberty Baseball Stadium, completed in June 2013 and home to Liberty Baseball, was ranked No. The team used Lynchburg's City Stadium as their home stadium until October 21, 1989, when the Flames played their first home game at Williams Stadium. The Flames won their first three bowl games: the Cure Bowl in 2019 and 2020 and the LendingTree Bowl in 2021. In 2023, the Flames went undefeated (12-0) in the regular season, the first Division-I team from Virginia to do so, and won the CUSA Championship Game. Liberty University's basketball teams play most home games in the 4,000-seat Liberty Arena; some are moved to the 9,547-seat Vines Center.

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