Joseph Duggar is attending a brick-and-mortar college

If you follow the Duggars or 19 Kids and Counting, you know this is a pretty big deal: Joseph Duggar is now attending classes at the brick-and-mortar Crown College of the Bible in Tennessee.

Proud dad Jim Bob Duggar made the revelation when wishing Joseph a happy belated 20th birthday today…

Joseph turned 20 on the 20th! He is such a great, diligent young man. He typically gets up early at 5 am and prays and studies his Bible for over an hour. Joseph has just started going to Crown Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee. He loves teaching and discipling young men, encouraging them to make wise choices in their lives. God is going to use Joseph in a mighty way to share His love and Bible principles to today’s world! We are very pleased with his choices so far. We love you, son.

With approximately 900 students, Crown College is an independent Baptist college that offers a Biblical Studies degree, as well as music programs. It also fields National Christian College Athletic Association basketball, soccer and volleyball teams. Crown College isn’t a regionally or nationally accredited college, but is recognized as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

Although Crown College is some 10 hours from the Duggars’ home in Arkansas, it is close to the Bates, their good friends who star on UP TV’s Bringing Up Bates. In fact, several of the Bates kids have attended the school. However, Joseph is the very first in his immediate family to go away for a non-virtual college. (Brother-in-law Derick Dillard attended the secular Oklahoma State University before meeting his now-wife, Jill Dillard.)

Joseph Duggar hasn’t been heavily featured in recent seasons of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting because he’s been at the IBLP‘s ALERT Academy in Big Sandy, Texas. Some are speculating that he’s now rooming at the Bates’ home, so maybe he’ll pop up on Bringing Up Bates instead!