Back in 2003, an analysis of how the attitudes of students at Catholic colleges changed from the time they entered as freshmen and graduated as seniors confirmed what a lot of parents already knew.

They had sent their children to Catholic schools assuming they’d receive a first-rate Catholic education. But that’s not what was happening. Instead, parents watched with alarm as their sons and daughters gradually lost their faith and their moral compass. Over the course of four years, students’ support for abortion, gay marriage and premarital sex significantly increased, while their Mass attendance dramatically decreased, the study showed. All the while, tuition at these private schools rose higher and higher.

Faithful parents wanted to know if there were any colleges left that they could trust.

That was the challenge the Register took on when it compiled its first guide to authentic Catholic colleges and universities in 2004. Sixteen schools made the list that year. 

This year, the Register’s “Catholic Identity College Guide” marks its 20th anniversary. Sadly, over the past two decades, many of the country’s best-known Catholic schools have all but lost their Catholic identities. Yet we’re happy to report that we have identified 53 faithfully Catholic schools for our 2024 guide — the largest number to date.

These schools, primarily but not exclusively in the United States, are committed to academic excellence while boldly proclaiming their fidelity to the Catholic faith, in accordance with norms established by Pope St. John Paul II and adapted by the U.S. Catholic bishops. In 2000, the Vatican asked the U.S. bishops to produce an application of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, including legally binding norms; and the next year, the USCCB published its “Application to the United States” for Ex Corde.

It recognized a student’s right to receive instruction in authentic Catholic doctrine, especially from theologians, and affirmed the requirement of the mandatum, which is an acknowledgement by a Church authority (usually the local bishop) that a Catholic professor of a theological discipline is teaching within the full communion of the Catholic Church.

Among the elements of Catholic identity were:

• having an administration, trustees and faculty who believe what the Church teaches and promote it on campus;
•  having a majority of faculty that is Catholic;
• offering daily Mass and confession on campus;
• excluding advocates of abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, cloning, or the redefinition of marriage as commencement speakers and/or recipients of honorary degrees; and
• having student health services prohibit referrals to abortion businesses.

Some of the names you see in 2024 were with us 20 years ago, while a few are making their debuts in this special issue. It’s our pleasure to introduce them to you. We are grateful for the fidelity of the schools in this guide — and for the impact they can have on our college students and our society. We look forward to the continued growth of this important list!