Sattler College


Sattler College is a Christian college in Boston that opened in Fall 2018. It does not accept any government funds. Projected external funding for the school is $30 million over the course of 25 years. Christian historian and lawyer David Bercot is on its board, as well as businessmen James W. Bradford and Dr Finny Kuruvilla. Its campus is in a high-rise office building in downtown Boston overlooking the Charles River and Massachusetts State House.

Religious Affiliation

The college is named for Michael Sattler, a sixteenth-century Anabaptist martyr. While the school is not affiliated with a particular denomination, it espouses principles from the early church and persecuted churches. Sattler believes in the power of redemptive love and emulates the early church and Anabaptist groups by following Jesus's instruction to love our enemies.

History

In 2015, Dr. Finny Kuruvilla presented his idea of a college with "a comprehensive curriculum and beautiful campus overlooking the Boston Harbor... no traditional campus would offer a first-class education for only $9,000 each year." He brought together a board of 6 people including 2 with PhDs from Ivy League schools and 2 with law degrees. In December 2016, Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved a measure to allow Sattler College to grant degrees and exist as an autonomous institution. Sattler College's first application opened in October 2017 and it began its first semester with students in the fall of 2018.

Campus

On October 26, 2017, the college announced that it had secured the 17th floor of the Leverett Saltonstall Building for its first campus. It is located in downtown Boston in Beacon Hill. The college says that it had no plans for building science labs. Instead they plan "to have students take laboratory courses through the Harvard University Extension School, Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies, or elsewhere and transfer credits back to Sattler." The college does plan to lease out apartment space to its students to provide housing options.

Academics

Academic Model

Sattler adheres to the Oxford academic model. Classes are mostly discussion-based, with briefer lectures and greater student involvement. They told the Massachusetts BHE, "Faculty will serve primarily as mentors and discussion leaders, not as lecturers or providers of information. Students will be directed to on-line lecture sets and will be responsible for learning outside of class, e.g., researching, reading, and watching video lectures. In class, ideas will be reinforced, discussed, and critiqued.
Instead of having a library of their own, Sattler utilizes the Boston Public Library for its students. Sattler also provides electronic library resources by subscribing to the eBook services provided by two leading digital library service providers: Proquest and EBSCO."

Degree Programs

In its December 2016 decision, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education granted Sattler College the ability to grant the following degrees:
The college has announced that, "within ten years , we plan to seek authorization to also offer programs in Civil Engineering, English, Education, Journalism, Mathematics, Physics, and Social Sciences."

The Three C's

One of Sattler College's self-proclaimed distinctives is its focus on "The Three C's": Core, Christian Character, and Cost.

Core

Sattler requires an extensive core curriculum based on the liberal arts, including writing, history, biology, math, and economics. Students will also be required to take religion courses on Christianity. These courses include learning Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek, church history, and studying the basics of Christianity.
Sattler's core curriculum courses include:
Foundations of Christian Faith
Science
Mathematics
Humanities
Social Sciences
Language and Communication
Dr. Kuruvilla says that the average student "after four years of college, is worse off when it comes to issues like pornography addiction, drug use, cheating and promiscuity." The college says it will focus on growing students "as a whole" through "wise study, mentoring, and discipleship."

Cost

Sattler College's goal is to keep tuition at $9,000 a year. Sattler College plans on room and board costing around $12,150. Below is their 2016 sample student cost of attendance according to their submission to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.
Cost of attendance Per yearLive on Campus
Tuition$9,270
Health Insurance$2,324
Room and Board:
Housing, food, and other services for 9 months
$12,515
Books and Supplies$618
Personal Expenses$1,545
Transportation$278
Total$26,549