Tied for No. 5, 100–300 employees: Southwest Baptist University

The school’s best benefit, he says, is that it’s a Christian workplace.

“We are a Christian employer and have a Christian environment to work in,” Maupin said. “It provides a different level of integrity and sincerity amongst and between employees and between employee work groups.”

While not all employees must be Christians, that’s a requirement for teaching faculty, and all employees must sign a code of conduct document.

“A preacher is said to be called to preach. A lot of people feel that (SBU) is their calling,” added Jim Hillman, director of human resources. “This is how they need to serve the Lord. That’s why they work here.”

Faith aside, SBU offers an array of other benefits. Chief among them is free college tuition for employees and their dependents.

This fall, 67 families took free classes that otherwise would have cost them as much as $15,000 a year, according to Hillman.

“(Tuition) and retirement (benefits) are the two biggies for us,” Hillman said.

Full-time SBU employees can invest in a 403(b), the nonprofit version of a 401(k). The university will double an employee’s 5 percent contribution to the 403(b).

SBU has more than 400 staff and faculty to serve about 3,600 students on campuses in Bolivar, Mountain View, Salem and Springfield.

About 1,600 undergraduate students attend classes on its main campus in Bolivar, a town of about 10,000 people 30 miles north of Springfield. Those students, along with more than 800 graduate students, can choose from 12 degrees in 43 academic areas.

SBU’s nursing school is located in Springfield on Fremont Avenue and is a partnership with St. John’s Health System.

That partnership isn’t the only expression of SBU’s commitment to health care. The university pays 100 percent of its employees’ health insurance premiums.

“There’s a lot of intelligent people who work here, and, for the most part, they take their health seriously,” Hillman said.

Employees also get plenty of time off. Vacation time accrues to 10 days after the first year of employment.