(AgapePress) - While many state universities and even some private schools continue to make it difficult for home-schoolers to enroll, one evangelical college in Mississippi is bucking that trend and welcoming them with open arms.

Five years ago, Belhaven College in Jackson began a concerted effort to bring home-schoolers to its campus. Now, 56% of Belhaven faculty with school-age children are home schoolers themselves, and 19% of this year's freshman class were home-schooled.

Belhaven president Dr. Roger Parrott, himself a home-schooling parent, says he understands the significance of home school education and that it is a great foundation for college-level work. He says the school offers special scholarships for home-schooled students.

"We find that [home-schooled students] come with high ACT [scores] and, because they are home-schooled, we add some [financial] incentive to that ... to help them," Parrott says. "We also know that ... if they come, they're going to persist and graduate because parents are going to be involved in their education. Part of the challenge of all of education is lack of parental involvement -- and we don't want that to end just when they come to college."

According to Parrott, who is a third-generation college president, his school believes in teaming with parents through a college education. In addition, he explains that the school is not skeptical of students who come from a background that is not as structured as others -- and he sees the Christian worldview of many home-schooled students as a plus.

"The advantages of their learning style helped their education, not pulled from it," the former pastor says. "I also think home schoolers do want a Christian environment, for the most part. They want an education that's not simply a 'pray before class' Christian environment, but really goes to the core of the curriculum, to look at it from a biblical perspective.

"That's what we do at Belhaven. I think that sets us apart -- and that's why students have found us."

Located in Mississippi's capital, Belhaven was named among "America's Best Colleges for 2002" by U.S. News and World Report -- and in The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development, the school is recognized for leadership in the field of student character development for spiritual growth programs.

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