Who we are
Learning shaped around you, centered on Christ
Day Lily Education began with a simple conviction: that a Christ-centered education should be shaped around the student, not the other way around.
We are an independent, degree-granting Christian college — small by design — serving students who are looking for something more personal than a large institution can offer. We award Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees (plus certificates for shorter study), almost entirely online, so you can study from wherever you are. What truly sets us apart is the relationship at the heart of it all: every student is paired with a mentor who helps design your degree around your goals, your gifts, and the life you’re actually living.
The day lily is a fitting picture of who we are. It is unpretentious and resilient, blooming wherever it’s planted. We hope your time here feels like that: rooted, unhurried, and full of quiet growth — in both knowledge and faith.
Our story
Serving students since 2011
Day Lily Education began in 2011, when a small circle of teachers, pastors, and lifelong learners kept meeting the same kind of student: sincere Christians who longed to study Scripture and grow in their calling, but who couldn’t make a traditional program fit their lives. A single mom. A bivocational pastor. A retiree hungry to finally study theology. A young worship leader who couldn’t move across the country for school.
What they needed wasn’t another rigid institution — it was someone to walk with them, and the freedom to learn in a way that fit their calling. So we began meeting learners one at a time, building study plans by hand and mentoring them through.
More than a decade later, we’ve stayed intentionally small, because the thing that made it work at the beginning is the thing we never want to lose: knowing our students by name. We award named degrees — from the B.A. in Biblical Studies and Bachelor of Theology to general degrees in history, psychology, and business and entry-level science and computing degrees like health sciences and computer science — and we’re working toward graduate programs like the M.A., M.Div., and M.S. Today, Day Lily Education is operated by 4955 Day Lily LLC and led by our director, Virginia Hansbury.
What makes us different
Small, personal, and deeply intentional
Individualized
Your program of study is built for you — not pulled off a shelf. We start with your calling and work outward.
Mentored
You’ll never study alone. A dedicated mentor guides, encourages, and prays with you through every step.
Flexible
Fully online and self-paced, our programs bend around work, family, and ministry — not the reverse.
Christ-centered
Everything we do aims at formation — growing you in knowledge, character, and love for Jesus.
Our convictions about learning
Education as discipleship
We believe learning is never neutral. Every subject — from Scripture to history to the study of the natural world — is an invitation to know God more truly and to love our neighbors more faithfully. That’s why we don’t treat your studies as a checklist to complete, but as a path of formation to walk.
It’s also why, beyond our own classrooms, we love to support faithful Christian scholarship. We hold that all truth is God’s truth, so we gladly come alongside believers doing careful research in fields well past the ones we teach — through the Day Lily Research Fund.
A few things we hold dear:
- The whole person matters. We care about your mind, your character, and your walk with Christ.
- Relationships change everything. Real growth happens in the context of being known and encouraged.
- One size fits no one. Your education should honor how God made you — with a genuinely personal design.
- Grace shapes our pace. Life is full. We build room for real seasons and celebrate faithful progress.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” — Colossians 3:23
Come meet the people behind Day Lily
Our mentors are the heart of this community. Get to know the people who will walk alongside you.