Statements
Mission
Our Vision:
Anchored in our Christ-centered mission, Lipscomb University will lead as a top-tier, nationally recognized institution.
We will excel in teaching, learning and research; be ambitious in our service to others; and be driven by continuous
improvement.
Our Mission:
We are a Christ-centered community preparing learners for purposeful lives through rigorous academics and transformative experiences.
Our Core Tenets:
We are a community engaged with the life and teachings of Jesus. We are committed to an ongoing search for truth.
We provide excellent, whole-person learning experiences to shape lives of character, leadership, service and faith. We
equip people to succeed in their vocation and contribute to the common good by living out their faith in action.
Our Goals:
Goal 1: Provide a premier, learner-focused
Christian education
Goal 2: Promote and develop spiritual growth and
transformation across our community
Goal 3: Recruit, support, retain and graduate students
with the tools for a purposeful life
Goal 4: Build a culture of diversity, equity and belonging
where people thrive as image-bearers of God
Goal 5: Expand our engagement, influence and impact
by forging deep connections with communities,
organizations and alumni
Goal 6: Empower and sustain a culture of
effectiveness, efficiency, collaboration and
financial strength across our community
Background
Lipscomb University was established in 1891 by David Lipscomb and James A. Harding on the same farm property that the university sits on today. Both men believed that regular study of the Bible was foundational for any well-educated individual. Since that time, the university, which is associated with the Churches of Christ, first named the Nashville Bible School, then David Lipscomb College, now Lipscomb University, has taught Bible classes daily for all full-time students as well as had chapel attendance requirements as part of its program. But neither man intended the university to be a seminary. Rather, "We aspire to stand in the front ranks of the great educational institutions of the world," Harding declared. By adding a medical doctor to teach the sciences in only its second year, Lipscomb University began a heritage of academic excellence that has grown with each passing year. And by adding women to its faculty within months of opening, Lipscomb was clear on his intent to build a diverse university. Their founding concept continues to be reflected in the university mission today: to integrate Christian faith and practice with academic excellence. The university continues to prove its ability to combine faith into a student's professional vision and community role. This mission is carried out not only in the classroom but also by involvement in numerous services to churches and the larger Middle Tennessee community. Lipscomb served as a junior college until graduating its first senior college class in 1948. The institution received its first accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1954. Today undergraduate students choose from more than 145 areas of study in 78 majors. Lipscomb is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 for questions about the accreditation of Lipscomb University. Lipscomb is a member of NCAA's Division I athletics; it became a full member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in Fall 2003.
Impact
In 2017, U.S. News and World Report's, moved Lipscomb University up to the Best National Universities category, where it now ranks at 213 in that category. Lipscomb was also ranked in the 2020 report as an A+ School for B Students.
The College of Business earned accreditation from AACSB International (AACSB) in 2022. With this accreditation, Lipscomb joins an elite group of business schools internationally with less than six percent - only 926 institutions across 60 countries - earning this prestigious accreditation.
Lipscomb's 2019-2020 job placement rate was 94 percent. This was based on the amount of bachelor's degree graduates who are employed or pursuing graduate school within six months of graduation.
The Department of Kinesiology's exercise science program became the first program in Tennessee to achieve initial accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in 2022. Currently, there are 72 undergraduate programs that are accredited by CAAHEP, representing 30 different states.
During the 2020-21 academic year, the Master of Health Care Informatics was ranked nationally by three different organizations. It was ranked the 24th "Best Masters in Healthcare Informatics" in the country by CollegeChoice. The website, topmastersinhealthcare.com ranked Lipscomb's program #20 in the nation, and Lipscomb was ranked in the 2020 Top 50 "Best Masters in Healthcare Informatics" by Value Colleges.
College of Business programs were ranked within the top 50 nationally in 2022 and No. 1 in the state for the past six consecutive years by Bloomberg/BusinessWeek or Poets&Quants for Undergrads. In addition, the college was named one of ten undergraduate business schools in the nation "to watch in 2020" by Poets&Quants.
In January 2021, the university launched its first Ph.D. program, a Doctor of Philosophy in archeology of the near east, through the Lanier Center for Archaeology. The first Ph.D. graduate receives his degree in May 2022.
Lipscomb has been classified as a doctoral university by the Carnegie Foundation, which places it among only seven percent of schools in the nation offering undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs.
According to a 2020 report by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Lipscomb was the fastest-growing private doctoral university in Tennessee and the eighth fastest growing in the nation between 2008 and 2018.
Lipscomb is included among just over 350 universities in the nation to have achieved classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Community Engagement.
Since 2013, the National Council for Teacher Quality has consistently ranked Lipscomb's College of Education programs among the top 25 in the nation, ranking them as high as No. 1 nationally in 2014. Most recently, Lipscomb received the organization's highest distinction for selective admissions requirements, and throughout the years NCTQ has named the College of Education a "best value in the nation," referenced it as a "model of excellence for others," awarded the college's programs A+ and A grades and included its undergraduate secondary teacher preparation program in the Start Here to Become a Teacher guide.
For a decade, Lipscomb's College of Education has been among the top-scoring traditional universities on the Teacher Preparation Report Card, released annually by the Tennessee State Board of Education. The report consistently scores Lipscomb as having one of the most effective teacher preparation programs in the state. The 2020 Teacher Preparation Report Card showed Lipscomb to be the largest teacher preparation program among all private universities in the state and the third largest overall.
Animation Career Review has ranked Lipscomb's Bachelor of Arts in animation program No. 22 in the nation and the top in Tennessee.
Needs
Lipscomb University's needs include: Grow access for first-generation college students as well as for minorities with historically low levels of college matriculation. Grow scholarship base in order to attract more of the nation's quality students as well as to ease the burden of a college education for students with financial need. Support growing initiatives such as:
Engineering missions (opportunities for Engineering students to bring needed improvements, such as pedestrian bridges and clean water systems, to areas of the world where they are needed);
Pionero Scholars program (scholarship program that seeks to increase the number of local students who become teachers that return to teach in their home communities); and
IDEAL program (certificate program uniquely designed for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities).
Support new initiatives such as the Solly School, part of Lipscomb's K-12 academy, which offers a unique opportunity for students with special needs to receive an exceptional education in an inclusive, Christian environment.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Higher Education |
| Secondary Category: | - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
| International |
| National |
