Liberty University, a large, private, non-profit evangelical Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia, is now offering 600 online degrees to students in Europe and actively exploring the possibility of establishing a physical campus in the future.
The university collaborated with marketing expert Lucian Mustata as its European representative for the project.
Commenting to Christian Daily International into reasons why the American higher education facility is extending its reach across the Atlantic, Mustata said Liberty seeks to meet a critical need for students who want to pursue ordinary careers while grounding their education in Christian faith-based learning.
Liberty’s move specifically intends to counter the rise in secularism in Europe, he said.
"Europe is growing very heavily in secularism," Mustata explained, "and technology very heavily impacts the next generation. We face a challenge: we have a shortage of education with Christian content-based faith."
Mustata said students go to university to secure a secular job, such as becoming a medical doctor. However, theology-based colleges only prepare them for careers as church pastors or similar roles, failing to train them for occupations within the wider secularist sphere.
He cited the example of his home country Romania, where some 20 high schools lead academic ratings in the country, but the most academically successful students come from Christian schools. In fact, he opined that students from non-faith schools are not achieving as well, which creates a growing societal problem if students fail to achieve the grades needed to progress into careers that benefit wider society.
Mustata also believed that parents prioritize their children receiving an education that exists "in a safe environment," free from issues involving drugs or violence.
"They want safety, most importantly, not if they're the best. And parents want to enroll them all in a Christian school, even secular [non-believing] parents, because they feel safe."
The issue for this "movement in Europe," however, is that no space currently exists in Europe, Mustata opined, for a Christian university that offers courses such as law or medicine, with Christian faith content.
Mustata talked to Liberty about the issue, and they told him of their interest to invest in higher education in Europe to provide such a wider career platform at the university level.
"We would like to give the opportunity to European Christians," Mustata said, outlining how Liberty runs large campuses in the U.S. with tremendous facilities and resources they could leverage for Europe. He cautioned, however, that the project would unfold at a slow pace.
Even so, "we need to invest in the next generation. In the long term, secularism grows in Europe because we're not investing in teenagers and the next generation with Christian values. It's very important to have Christian education in Europe," Mustata explained.
“Liberty is coming in to see if they can cover these needs. But it's a step, it's a process, and we would like to test this space with European people. From homeschooling to PhD's, Liberty runs the biggest campus Christian university in the world."
Mustata said his own motivation is not financial gain, even though he runs the marketing company involved, but because he passionately believes in the value of Christian education for Europe.
"I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this because I believe in encouraging Christian education in Europe. We need to do something for the continent. We face a big problem in that not everyone wants to be pastoring or doing social work, but if they want to study in a Christian space and be anything they want to be in the world [career-wise], they can have the opportunity to study in a faith-content based context.”
Mustata became involved in the project through his friendship with Dr. Dondi Costin, the president of Liberty. Conversations about "Heartbeats," the large Christian music festival and outreach ministry Mustata founded, led to a wider conversation about the condition of Christian education in Europe.
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything about education,” Mustata said, arguably downplaying his own brave battle as an orphan found abandoned in a litter bin as a baby who fought his way through the Romanian orphanage system to become a successful businessman.
The Liberty president informed Mustata about the university’s methods, and that sparked Mustata’s interest in pursuing something similar in Europe.
From that moment, he became the official representative of the ongoing project on the continent.
“Liberty has now opened a big door to Europe, and they now have a heart for Europe,” Mustata said. “And they would love to invest in this, just as they did in America 50 years ago.
“But this isn’t about Liberty; it’s about wanting to do something for Christian education. And Liberty is the institution that can offer to cover this need.”
Practically, Mustata said Liberty is currently offering its presence to European students online with an organic structure that they can shape in the future to become a physical presence—a campus—depending on the project’s growth.
Some people prefer online learning, and others prefer a physical educational experience, Mustata elaborated, recalling how many paradigms changed after COVID-19.
“The pandemic changed the world, and this now makes sense for people.”
Mustata said Liberty will intentionally offer its online programs in the online space with appropriate European accreditations.
“They are going to be more intentional to see the need and if they can open a school in Europe.”
Many people in Europe are unaware of the American Christian university, so Mustata viewed his role as marketing the education they offer.
As a Romanian national, he considered his own country, which has the largest evangelical community on the continent, a priority in terms of raising awareness.
“We have many Christians, and they don’t know about Liberty’s programs. So it makes sense to start marketing in Romania because we are the biggest community for them.”
Mustata has been marketing Liberty’s move on social media channels and other media through his marketing company, Lucian and Partners. This has involved special financial offers for prospective students and organizing web webinars to teach people.
“We want to see if a big demand exists to open a college or university in Europe,” he added.
