Archives: Press Releases
Contact:
Amy Stickel, Communications Manager
708.293.4918
For Immediate Release
Trinity also Recognized as a “Best Value” College
Palos Heights, Ill.– Continuing a years-long tradition of excellence and recognition, Trinity Christian College has been named among the “Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report for 2021. Trinity was ranked 21st among Midwestern regional colleges in this year’s survey. Trinity was also named a “Best Value” college and a “Top Performer on Social Mobility.”
“At Trinity Christian College, our community is focused on providing a rigorous, life-changing education, and our graduates go on to find success in their careers and vocations,” said Trinity’s President Kurt D. Dykstra. “We are pleased that U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized how Trinity prepares our students to change the world.”
Said Provost Aaron J. Kuecker, Ph.D., “We are proud of the excellent academic programs that are supported by Trinity’s world class faculty. Rankings like these are a recognition of the top quality, whole-person vision of education that we pursue at Trinity.”
Trinity is frequently recognized for its high academic standards. The College’s honors include being named a “College of Distinction,” a “Best BSN Program in Illinois,” and a “National Strength and Conditioning Association Education Recognition Program,” among others. Trinity, which is a university partner with 1871, the world’s top university-affiliated startup incubator located in downtown Chicago, also has a world-class business department that recently led the State of Illinois with both the highest pass rates and average scores on the most recent certified public accounting (CPA) exam. The Trinity Athletics Department was also recently listed among the Champions of Character Five-Star institutions by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
The U.S. News rankings are based on qualitative and quantitative information in several categories, including peer assessments, graduation rates, social mobility, and faculty information. The “Best Value” ranking is determined by a school’s academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The “Social Mobility” ranking is based on how successful a college is at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.
About Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College, based in Palos Heights, Ill., is an accredited Christian liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs by way of bachelor’s, master’s, and adult degree completion courses of study. Founded in 1959, the College is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture and is continually ranked in the top tier among Regional Colleges—Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more, visit trnty.edu.
Contact:
Amy Stickel, Communications Manager
708.293.4918
For Immediate Release
The international corporate headquarters of NACSW relocating to Trinity’s campus beginning Summer 2020
Palos Heights, Ill.: Trinity Christian College and the North American Christians in Social Work (NACSW) are pleased to announce a new memorandum of understanding to mark the co-location of NACSW’s corporate headquarters on Trinity’s campus, beginning June 1, 2020. NACSW and Trinity’s Social Work Department have a long history of collaboration and support for one another, with Trinity’s social work faculty serving as frequent presenters at the annual NACSW convention. Beginning in January 2020, Dr. Allison Tan – Assistant Professor of Social Work at Trinity – accepted a position as Director of Programs for NACSW. In this role, Dr. Tan will have opportunity to serve as a key point of contact for the oversight of NACSW’s day-to-day activities from Trinity’s campus. This co-location offers Trinity students opportunities for employment, internships, and experiential learning and provides NACSW with institutional support, space, and other invaluable resources.
The leaders of both NACSW and Trinity Christian College see the value of this co-location. Rick Chamiec-Case, NACSW’s Executive Director says, “Besides providing much-needed additional space for NACSW’s growing office and storage needs, NACSW’s move to TCC’s campus will create a valuable partnership that will richly contribute to both NACSW’s and Trinity Christian College’s missions at several levels. Whether it’s creating opportunities for NACSW to work with and give experience to student workers and interns from TCC’s Social Work department and other majors, or sharing resources and providing consultation to support each other’s programs, this partnership will serve both NACSW and Trinity well in the years ahead.”
Trinity’s President, Kurt Dykstra, expressed the mutual benefit similarly, “We are thrilled to welcome NACSW to its new home on Trinity’s campus. Our students and faculty will benefit immeasurably from the close physical proximity to this wonderful organization. I trust, too, that NACSW and its employees will find Trinity a very hospitable and collegial home and enjoy, as we do already, the great benefits of living and working within one of the world’s great metropolitan areas.”
About NACSW
NACSW began in 1950 in Wheaton, IL and was incorporated in 1954. NACSW’s mission and vision is to “be a vital presence in social work” by “equipping its members to integrate Christian faith and social work practice”. With a membership of nearly 1,200 social work students, practitioners, and educators, NACSW’s work includes publication of the journal Social Work & Christianity as well as a number of textbooks aimed at equipping Christian social work and social work programs with resources to integrate faith and practice. NACSW also hosts an annual convention, supports the mentorship of emerging leaders in social work, and provides a range of continuing education opportunities.
About Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College, located in Palos Heights, Ill., is an accredited liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs of study, master’s degree programs in counseling psychology and special education, and an Adult Studies accelerated program. Founded in 1959, the college is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture and is continually ranked in the top tier among Regional Colleges—Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more, visit trnty.edu
Participants in virtual internship program can receive three academic credits
Palos Heights, Ill.—Trinity Christian College has partnered with Upkey, a Chicago startup, to offer more than $1.5 million worth of academic credit to students participating in its virtual internship program.
Driven by a commitment to provide unique educational opportunities that seek the public good, Trinity is offering three academic credits to students who successfully complete Upkey’s online internship and business education program. More than 5,000 students applied to the program, which was open to 1,000 students.
“While COVID-19 has brought many unpredictable and abrupt changes, it cannot shake us from our core mission of helping students flourish by providing accessible education,” said Trinity Provost Aaron Kuecker, Ph.D. “When we learned about Upkey’s digital summer internships and saw their vision for helping students thrive, we were eager to create additional value in the program by making it possible for students to have their educational experience transcripted for college credit.”
Upkey’s Virtual Internship Program is an eight-week educational experience, starting on June 1. Each week, participants will be learning from expert sources, conducting research, and completing interactive projects. The program will cover a broad range of topics developed with the support of faculty from leading universities and top business schools across the nation.
“We are so humbled with the volume of students who have reached out and thanked us for creating an opportunity for them,” said Amir Badr, Founder and CEO, Upkey. “Everyone at Upkey is grateful for Trinity’s help in providing real college credit to students who were impacted by COVID-19. These credits will help students both educationally and financially.”
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About Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College, located in Palos Heights, Ill., is an accredited liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs of study, master’s degree programs in clinical mental health counseling and education, and an Adult degree completion accelerated program. To learn more, visit trnty.edu
About Upkey
Upkey provides free online educational resources to students ranging from high-school to university level. Through gamified modules, the company focuses on making professional growth, fun, easy, and accessible to everyone. The goal of Upkey is to create equal opportunities across the board, and provide underrepresented students the tools needed to be successful in their career path. In the past six months, the company has served over 15,000 students across the nation. Those interested in learning more can visit upkey.com.
Trinity Christian College is pleased to announce that it has named Madison Eggert of Mequon, Wis., and Leslie Osorio of Mundelein, Ill., recipients of the prestigious 2020 Founders’ Scholarship. The Founders’ Scholarship is a renewable, full-tuition award available annually to two incoming freshmen.
Eggert attends Eastbrook Academy in Milwaukee, where she has played volleyball for four years. She plans to major in biology at Trinity.
“I am so excited and thankful to attend Trinity this fall with this generous award!” said Eggert. “I fell in love with the Christ-centered community that I found there. I am deeply grateful that I have the opportunity use this gift to help me on my journey to becoming a physician assistant.”
Osorio attends Mundelein High School, where she is a member of the National Honor Society and a student leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is also an executive board member of Puertas, a Latino cultural experience club. Osorio plans to major in nursing at Trinity.
“I am immensely grateful, humbled, and honored to be one of the recipients of the Founders’ Scholarship,” said Osorio. “This award has not only lightened my financial burden, but it will allow me to continue to pursue my educational dreams in healthcare and wellness. With the strong academic programs and a close-knit community centered in faith, I am confident that my time here will form me as a whole person and equip me for my future career and calling to serve others.”
Among other criteria, the Trinity’s Selection Committee for the Founders’ Scholarship considers outstanding spiritual, academic, and social leadership.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Dean’s List is Trinity Christian College’s highest academic honor. Congratulations to all our traditional undergraduate students and adult programs students who met this distinction for the Fall 2019 semester.
Click here for a full list of students who have earned their place on the Dean’s List.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Trinity is pleased to announce the launch of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life. For 60 years, Trinity has been shaping the imaginations and gifts of students so that they might extend flourishing as they engage their neighborhoods, churches, communities, cities, and wider global contexts. This center marks Trinity’s ongoing commitment to education that is for God, for good, and for the world.
The mission of the Center for Teaching and the Good Life is to deepen Trinity’s capacity to help all students discover and articulate the joy of their vocation in ways that include and extend beyond career and work. Fundamentally, the Center resources faculty and staff in pursuit of the questions “What does it mean to be human?” and “How can we help each student live fully into being the particular human God has called them to be?”
To accomplish this purpose, the Center will house a resource repository surrounding questions of teaching and the good life, convene faculty and staff seminars, workshops, and colloquia, and engage external experts and constituencies. Alongside this work, the Center will coordinate Trinity’s Thinking & Writing courses, a suite of courses that give all Trinity students the opportunity to think, discover, and write in response to questions about the good life.
Leadership of the Center will be provided by its Director, Dr. Mark Peters, Department Chair and Professor of Music, and Associate Director, Mallory Boyce ’19, Executive Assistant to the Provost.
According to Peters, “The Center’s name signals that every interaction faculty and staff have with students presents us with an opportunity for teaching and learning. And it reminds us that every such encounter can be understood in the context of what it means to live now as humans in God’s world.” To that end, Boyce noted that the Center will accelerate work Trinity’s staff and faculty are already undertaking, “Trinity’s faculty and staff are already cultivating an expansive understanding of vocation with students – the Center is naming that work and providing greater institutional support to deepen the opportunities faculty and staff have to engage these themes and to guide students in doing the same.”
Support for the center comes in part from a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) “Vocation across the Academy” grant administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. These grants are designed to support institution-wide initiatives that deepen and expand the conversation on vocation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In 2019, Trinity nursing graduates continue their perfect first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. This success represents the fourth time in the past five years that the College is celebrating a 100% pass rate, which represents the highest five-year NCLEX average of any BSN or ADN program in Illinois.
“The mission of the Department of Nursing is to: prepare academically and clinically excellent professional nurses for a lifetime of Christ-like serve to others.” A key element of that mission is being able to pass the NCLEX for licensure, which allows Trinity’s BSN graduates to work as registered nurses.
According to Nursing Department Chair Tina Decker, D.N.P., NCLEX preparation is not an afterthought in Trinity’s nursing program. “It is woven throughout the entire curriculum, starting in the very first nursing courses students take,” she said
“We are so proud that all of the hard work of the students and faculty for the class of 2019 has once again resulted in the best possible outcome of 100% of the graduates passing the NCLEX on their first attempt,” said Decker. “And we are excited for the impact that the Class of 2019 can have by using their skills and knowledge in service to others.”
The NCLEX-RN exams are administered by NCSBN, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, through which boards of nursing act and counsel together to provide regulatory excellence for public health, safety, and welfare. The exam is taken after the student graduates from a bachelor’s degree-granting nursing program.
Trinity’s nursing program, which is ranked as one of the best BSN programs in Illinois by RegisteredNursing.org, is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Click here to learn more about Trinity’s nursing program.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Palos Heights, Ill.: Trinity Christian College is pleased to announce its ranking among the “Best Colleges” of Regional Colleges—Midwest by U.S. News & World Report for 2020. Trinity was ranked 20th among Midwestern regional colleges in this year’s survey. The College was also ranked among the top 25 “Best Values” among Midwest colleges. U.S. News & World Report also recognized Trinity for its significant number of international students.
“As we celebrate our 60th anniversary in 2019, Trinity continues to provide a rigorous education in a supportive environment where students are taught wisdom and knowledge – and are prepared professionally so that they can pursue lives of significance wherever they are called to live and work,” said President Kurt D. Dykstra. “We are pleased that U.S. News & World Report has recognized, once again, that Trinity prepares our students very well for a world that sorely needs them.”
The U.S. News rankings are based on qualitative and quantitative information in several categories, including peer assessments, graduation rates, social mobility, and faculty information. The “Best Value” ranking considers the ratio of quality to price; percentage of undergraduates receiving scholarships or grants; and average discount.
About Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College, based in Palos Heights, Ill. and with a dedicated location at 1871 in downtown Chicago, is an accredited Christian liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs by way of bachelor’s, master’s, and adult degree completion courses of study. Founded in 1959, the college is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture and is continually ranked in the top tier among Regional Colleges—Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more, visit trnty.edu
Festivities Take Place at Hilton Chicago Oak Brook Hills Resort
Palos Heights, Ill.: Trinity is pleased to host its Diamond 60th Anniversary Celebration on Friday, Sept. 27 from 7 pm to midnight at the beautiful Hilton Chicago Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center, 3500 Midwest Rd, Oak Brook, IL 60523.
Join the Trinity family for a night of gourmet food stations; craft beer, cocktails, and wine; interactive displays; dancing; and connecting with friends old and new! This fun and celebratory event is one that will only happen once and is something you won’t want to miss. Plus, the nigh supports a great cause: student scholarships!
Tickets are $100.00 per person and can be purchased at www.trnty.edu/60 or by calling Debby at 708.239.4793.
All are welcome to the celebration! We hope to see you on Sept. 27!
About Trinity Christian College
Trinity, located in Palos Heights, Ill., is an accredited liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs of study, master’s degree programs in counseling psychology and special education, and an Adult Studies accelerated program. Founded in 1959, the college is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture and is continually ranked in the top tier among Regional Colleges—Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more, visit trnty.edu
Contact: Amy Stickel, Communications Manager, 708.293.4918
Whether pursuing an undergraduate degree in a psychology-related program or earning a Master of Arts in counseling psychology, students at Trinity learn to blend a liberal arts based approach to psychological science with the art of understanding the self and relating to the contemporary world in all its complexity.
And now, students who are working towards their B.A. in Art Therapy, Psychology, or Speech-Language Pathology at Trinity can begin taking graduate-level courses in their junior or senior year. Students may take up to three courses at the graduate level during their undergraduate experience, allowing for up to nine credits of graduate coursework that can be counted towards both an undergraduate and graduate degree.
That means students can earn a psychology-related B.A. and an M.A. from Trinity in five and a half years, instead of six.
“Undergraduate students who take graduate coursework at Trinity can seamlessly transfer those courses into the Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology program upon finishing their Bachelor of Arts degree,” said Dr. Kara E. Wolff, Ph.D., Director of the Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology and Associate Professor of Psychology.
Said Wolff, “This new opportunity is also ideal for undergraduate students who are interested in graduate school and would like to experience graduate coursework prior to beginning a full graduate program.”
Trinity is also welcoming our alumni back to their campus home for graduate school. Alumni who enter the Counseling Psychology graduate program for the fall of 2019 will receive a $250 tuition discount. The College is also offering a $500 scholarship, in the form of a tuition discount, for Trinity alumni who graduated with a 3.5 GPA or higher.
There are several requirements for undergraduate students looking to start graduate level coursework:
- 3.0 cumulative GPA, junior or senior standing, previously completed four psychology courses with grades of B or higher: PSYC 121, 122, and two other psychology courses.
- Successful completion of an interview with the graduate program director.
Students interested in enrolling in the M.A. program after completing their Trinity bachelor’s degree will have their application fee waived. They will need to complete the following elements of the graduate application process:
- Submit an application ($50 application fee is waived)
- Submit two letters of recommendation through the online application portal
- Complete an interview with program faculty
- If accepted into the program, pay the non-refundable enrollment deposit of $250 and attend orientation