Falwell's Liberty University one of largest recipients of federal aid for students. [View All]

[madfloridian]

Liberty University one of the largest recipients of federal aid for students

Evangelical college Liberty University is the largest recipient of federal aid to a student body in Virginia, and the eighth largest recipient in the country overall, reports Lynchburg, Va.’s News & Advance.

Eighty-eight percent of the $445 million in federal aid that Liberty received in the 2009-2010 school year was comprised of student loans; the remaining 12 percent came in the form of Pell grants and other federal education subsidies.

Liberty is the largest private university in Virginia and calls itself “the largest and fastest growing Christian Evangelical university in the world.” The university was founded on the fundamentalist principles of the late Jerry Falwell and requires students in all its programs to take a course in “creationist studies.”

The $445 million figure is a 56 percent increase from the amount of money Liberty received in the previous school year. One of the major factors in the upsurge in federal funds obtained by the university has been a big bump in online enrollment.

That is rather alarming to me...that they received 56 percent more federal funding last year. Online studies or not...their teachings are very bigoted.

In 2009 they prohibited a Democratic Club on campus from using the name of the university.

UPDATE: Kaine calls on LU to reconsider Democratic club ban

Sounds odd to me that they got 56% more funding during a Democratic administration in spite of forbidding a Democratic club to include their name.

Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. made his first public comments today about the university's suspension of the campus Democratic party club.

"That club still has the right to exist," Falwell said, although it cannot use the university's name in its activities...They still can meet on campus," in certain rooms, he said. "There is absolutely no animosity at all toward any of these kids.

"They are good, Christian kids who sit with me at ball games. I just hope they find a pro-life family organization to affiliate with so they can be endorsed by Liberty again.

Here is more from earlier when the club was banned because it did not meet LU standards.

Earlier:

Liberty University has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university.

But they gladly accept the funding.

Also a law firm connected to them called Liberty Counsel was designated an Anti-Gay Group by the SPLC.

18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda

Liberty Counsel
Orlando, Fla.

Created in 1989, Liberty Counsel is affiliated with Liberty University Law School in Lynchburg, Va., a legacy of the late conservative icon Jerry Falwell. It was founded and is still chaired by Mathew (Mat) Staver, who also serves as director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy at Liberty University, and provides legal assistance with regard to religious liberty, abortion and the family.

The organization may be best known for its campaigns to ensure that “public displays of religion” are maintained during the Christmas holiday, and it has adopted broad right-wing views, including the allegation that the Obama Administration has a “socialist liberal agenda.” But it also has focused heavily on anti-gay activism.

In 2009, J. Matt Barber, formerly with Concerned Women for America and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (see above for both), joined Liberty Counsel as director of cultural affairs (also becoming Liberty University’s associate dean for career and professional development). A year earlier, Barber had argued that given “medical evidence about the dangers of homosexuality,” it should be considered “criminally reckless for educators to teach children that homosexual conduct is a normal, safe and perfectly acceptable alternative.”

The Counsel also has been active in battling same-sex marriage, saying it would destroy the “bedrock of society.” In 2005, the group’s blog said: “People who … support the radical homosexual agenda will not rest until marriage has become completely devalued. Children will suffer most from this debauchery.” A 2007 blog posting said same-sex marriage would “severely impact future generations.”