It's no secret that higher education in America has an extreme liberal bias and has long abandoned teaching students how to think and has instead dogmatically taught students what to think. Liberals of course would argue the reason liberal thought pervades the university is that conservatives are ignorant and uneducated and therefore are underemployed in academia. A recent New York Times Op-Ed titled, "A Confession of Liberal Intolerance" admitted that this clearly is not the case however and acknowledged that liberals actively discourage diversity in thought in colleges across America. In fact, while most liberals claim to be more "enlightened" and "scientific" than their conservative counterparts, the reality is they only utilize science when it suits them and ignore science when it does not. This should be disconcerting to all of course, but particularly to Christians who are sending their kids to college without considering the ideological consequences. When studies have shown 70-80% of Christians lose their faith in their first year of college, it might be wise to stop a moment and consider why and where we send our children to be indoctrinated—I mean educated.
For young Christian adults who are contemplating college and their future, caution is advised as well as a real plan before defaulting to university as you're more than likely to exit that experience a very different person—and not necessarily for the better. When your education is known to be tainted with many half-truths, extremely biased professors and a genuine lack of thought diversity, it's important to prepare yourself for the ideological assault and have a real plan on how to respond and be willing to intelligently and articulately disagree. The reason that so many lose their faith in college isn't because of compelling scientific arguments, but rather the fact that arguments and opinions of liberal professors are presented as fact and counter-arguments are rarely heard. This gives a student the impression that counter-arguments simply do not exist and that their choice is either to acknowledge fact or continue to believe fantasy.
I experienced this myself in my four years in a state college studying anthropology and geology. I went in with eyes wide open however, knowing full-well what I was getting myself into and I spent a great deal of time (literally hundreds of hours) studying the counter-arguments to my professor's claims outside of class. Not aligning myself with my professor's views however came at a cost—not just in ridicule, but also in GPA. However, I learned quite a bit in college, but ironically most of that knowledge came from outside the lecture hall and from books other than those assigned by my professors. Unfortunately not many college students these days are as prepared with critical thinking skills or willing to sacrifice their grades and put in the extra time and work to investigate the veracity of their professors' claims. Most college students (and high school for that matter) simply assume what's being taught to them is true because they fall prey to the Appeal to Authority logical fallacy which professors and teachers are all too eager to exploit. But regardless if you're sitting in a university lecture hall or a church pew, critical thinking is absolutely essential.
"But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."
-1st Peter 3:14-16