I went to a jesuit-backed institution and found it to be an exceptional education. Standards for work quality were high, and they absolutely took plagiarism seriously. The few jesuits that I had as professors were true scholars and didn't mess around. They encouraged free thinking, and disagreement with course content, provided you fulfilled the requirements of the assignments. The jesuits seemed to enjoy debating and were very respectful when making counter points. The benefit to the small class sizes (20-30 students) was that while you could sit in the back of the class and coast through, it was much more fun to become engaged.

The only creepy thing about going to a jesuit institution was the social aspects outside of class. There were many clubs and student groups, but all of them were pretty tightly monitored and controlled by administration.

Over a 4-year education, I think there were only 3 or 4 required classes in religion, and only 1 of them mentioned the Bible (the required version of the Bible for this class was "The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Expanded Edition, Revised Standard Version"). The remainder of the religion courses covered the writings of St. Ignatius Loyola, as well as other classical and contemporary christian philosophers. Within the required religion courses, there were electives, so you always had a choice between 2 or 3 classes to meet the requirement, and some of those classes didn't place as much of an emphasis on christianity or catholicism.

I graduated from a Jesuit University and found the education second to none! At no time during my 4 years was I forced or coerced into Catholocism. Like the other poster wrote, you are required to take some theology courses, but they weren't specific to Catholics or even Christianity - the courses I took discussed and explored all major religions.

What makes a Jesuit education so valuable is the critical thinking skills it teaches - logic, language, philosophy, ethics etc. And, as the other poster pointed out, the smaller class sizes make becoming engaged in the course material very easy and enjoyable.

Perhaps your niece was looking for answers to life's more complicated questions and found answers in the Bible. Stuff like that happens, especially when young people venture out on their own for the first time.

As for the rest fo the stuff, like the Jesuits being a part of the NWO and all of that - well, Whatever. I don't buy it.

Originally posted by GoneGrey
I would be highly enraged and offended if I spent big bucks funding my son's education in a secular field of study only to discover that there are some subliminal attempts being made to sell the school's religious affiliation on him.

You needn't worry - it won't happen. But you must understand that as a liberal arts college, he will be required to take some core courses in theology. Nobody escapes the requirement. However, these are academic courses on religion, not brainwashing sessions.