The folks at Belmont Abbey College are the real deal. They’re a small Catholic college in North Carolina but they’re actually Catholic. They take the faith seriously. If I remember correctly, they were the first Catholic college to sue the Obama administration over the HHS contraceptive mandate. They might have been the first organization to sue in front of everyone else.

They’re right now attempting to raise money to become completely financially independent from the government which they say has become “hostile to faith.”

This would put them with Hillsdale College, Wyoming Catholic College, and Christendom as one of just a handful of colleges across the country that don’t accept federal aid.

God bless them for their efforts. I hope they make it.

The Daily Caller:

Belmont Abbey College (BAC), located in North Carolina, is operating a campaign called “Made True” that aims to raise $55 million to cut ties with the federal government and restore its purpose as a faith-based institution, its website reads. The money will “create innovative new financial structures and stewardship programs” with the intent of graduating students without debt as well as create public policy and health science programs that align with the college’s mission.

“Without the ability to remain financially independent and secure, we place our faith-based practices at risk from a federal government both increasingly intrusive to private institutions and increasingly hostile to faith,” the website reads. “The mission of Belmont Abbey College is rooted in a desire to fill society with graduates prepared to restore the culture for the greater glory of God and create a world where charity and goodness thrive.”

Federal government intervention has asked the college to do “things that [may] be contrary to our Catholic [beliefs],” BAC Vice President of College Relations Philip Brach told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

He explained to the College Fix that the school has experienced several incidents of government “intrusion,” citing the Affordable Care Act’s contraception provision and a current push by the Department of Education to revise Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination, to include gender identity. He also cited concerns with the federal student loan system.

The campaign intends to boost the school’s endowment to more than $50 million by 2030 and grow its annual fund by $5 million per year, according to the website. It promises potential donors that their support will help the college “flood society with graduates prepared to create a world where people thrive: a world made true in God’s providence.”