Excel College and Camps — Local services in Black Mountain

I can recommend Excel College under certain circumstances. I went through the associate’s degree program (which is also the first half of the bachelor’s degree). I was in the C5 class that graduated in December 2021. Academically, I absolutely recommend Excel. The class structure incentivized critical thinking. Students often disagreed in the classroom, and conversation around those topics was encouraged! I also vastly grew in my exposure and knowledge of the Bible in our Bible classes. Since I grew up with a classical education, Excel was a wonderful continuation of a familiar learning model. Founder and primary classroom teacher, Davis Norment, is the foundation of my recommendation. Davis enjoys conversations with his students outside of class. He is willing to listen patiently and respect his students, who are able to respect and trust him in return. His humility and integrity enabled me to go to him in challenging times. As to the overall atmosphere of the college, it varied. On the one hand, community dinners were an amazing time of fellowship around a meal. On the other hand, much of the teaching those evenings was legalistic and conflicted with core aspects of my Christian faith. If you are a non-denominational/Pentecostal, this school may be great for you!! Just try to get a clear picture of the atmosphere and culture of the college. I also had the opportunity to work on the marketing team for the school. It gave me an opportunity to watch the inner workings of staff. Unfortunately, a significant part of leadership was not open to criticism from students nor open to disagreements outside of class. Please understand the students were not always helpful in their feedback either. The tendency of some staff to then speak ill of students created a vicious cycle. These interactions made it difficult to stay positive. The school is also forever changing. This is not always bad, but it can be emotionally draining to keep up. Excel is losing its original smaller class size (which is still smaller than most modern colleges), so keep that in mind if that is important to you. Excel was a good fit for me because it aligned with goals I had going into college, primarily my ambition to graduate without debt. I also gained life experience on a level I never imagined. I especially recall a time when I was struggling with my attitude (admittedly, not without merit), and Andrew Chambers called me out on it. To this day, I greatly appreciate his feedback, honesty, and willingness to confront me. I respect him more because of it. During my time at Excel, I made amazing, life-long friends. It is also absolutely stunning there in the Blue Ridge Mountains, so be sure you visit! Overall, I recommend the school. Just as with any other college, do your research. I again want to give a special shout out to Davis Norment who absolutely makes this college. I pray this was helpful both to the school and to any prospective students in getting an honest picture of Excel...

I am very thankful for how God has worked in my son’s life since he has been attending Excel College. I have had such joy watching him grow in grace and learning.

My son Austin was not interested in higher education after graduating from our homeschool, and, considering the Woke craziness going on on most campuses today, I supported that decision. He spent a few years at home doing odd jobs and there was COVID that interrupted all normal life and he really did not know what he wanted to do. I was at a loss to know how to help him.

Fortunately, I had started seeing some patients in my chiropractic practice whom I later found out were connected to a college here in Black Mountain that I had never heard about. That was strange because this is a small town. Getting to know them was my introduction to Excel College. Some of them were students and some were faculty. They all seemed to share the same traits of being excellent people with a sincere love for Christ. Austin was working part-time for me in the clinic and came to know some of them too. One patient, Andrew, an administrator at Excel, asked me one day if there were anything about which he could pray for me? I said please pray for Austin for direction in life. He said he would and suggested that Austin should check out the college.

At that point, I really had not looked into Excel so I went online. I liked everything that I saw. Our homeschooling was based on a Latin centered classical curriculum. Excel College’s model is very similar to that. However, knowing Austin’s negative reaction to the idea of going to college, I was doubtful that he would be interested. Nevertheless, I told him about it. He agreed to check it out and we went.

I was very impressed with everything I saw and heard and to my great surprise Austin found something there that clicked with him and he said that he would like to try going. Well, imagine my surprise. The student body are some of the best, kindest and brightest people that anyone would want his son or daughter to associate with. The school promotes a culture that fosters these traits. The faculty are smart and they really do care about the students. They get a classical learning experience and are taught not what to think but how to think about every subject from a Christian perspective. Their goal is to graduate, excellent, capable Christian adults. This is exactly what my goal has been for all of my five children and Austin is...

When I think of Excel College I feel nostalgia. When I first attended it was known as CreatEd Institute. Their model of education appealed to me and made a lot of sense for the point I was at in my life. I had never lived in community before and how Excel does community is radically different from a typical college experience. From my experience, the people who thrive at Excel are those who are intentional with their time and are willing to buy in to the vision. I was certainly resistant at first to what they asked, but it was nothing unreasonable. Helping cook a meal a week, cleaning the space you live in, working, showing up to class, attending twice weekly all-team meetings. I felt sought out personally by staff and was definitely met where I was at and given lots of grace. The person I was when I entered Excel I believe was very different from who I was when I left. The core curriculum provided fresh perspective with which to view life that I am undoubtedly grateful for. I can't speak to the practicum as I have not personally gone through it, but it is run by the same staff that provided an excellent education experience through the liberal arts core.

Living and learning at Excel was honestly very life giving to me and their campus and the people there feel like a second home to me. Seeing people at Excel live out their faith pushed me closer to the Lord and I would not be where I am now (mentally, emotionally, spiritually, even geographically) without the holistic education and genuine relationships that I made at Excel. God certainly used this school to impact my life in a way I never would've expected. The leaders here spoke into my life with authenticity and a desire to see me succeed and for that I am grateful. Shout-out to Andrew Chambers, Isaiah Schmidt, Tom Pond, Davis Norment, etc (I could really just list them all because honestly all the guys I know on their leadership team are grounded, God-fearing men and I have a lot of respect for each of them).Ultimately it is run by humans who have flaws, so it's not perfect, but the expectation of perfection seems to breed bitterness. People here are real. If you want to pursue community and education in a Christ centered community with mentors and leaders that love you enough to call you higher then Excel is a great place to consider. I would certainly recommend the core program and I myself am considering further education through their...