An annual American ritual has begun, with college freshmen moving in and some high school students starting to get serious about college. My oldest is entering eighth grade, so we have plenty of time to ponder this, though at the moment she is set on attending a Newman Guide Catholic college.
For young Catholics considering college or their parents, there’s a natural question of whether Catholic colleges are worth the cost and potentially the distance. Most Americans are focused only on things like the income potential or experience, but Catholics should also consider the faith impact of their college choice. The evidence shows a tremendous benefit to attending a Catholic college or university, though Catholic programs on non-Catholic colleges are doing some great things.
Before discussing faith on campus, it’s worth noting that the assumption that the more educated people are, the less religious they are is no longer accurate. Christian Smith, the sociologist and expert on religious transmission, explains that: “Most of the older research was conducted on baby boomers, for whom college did indeed seem to tend to corrode religious faith and practice. But many studies more recently have shown that the conventional wisdom about baby boomers does not apply to today’s youth. Higher education no longer seems to diminish the religion of emerging adults.” In the case of Catholic colleges, higher education certainly enhances graduates’ faith life.
The evidence backs the hope that Catholic colleges bolster the faith of Catholic attendees. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University has been surveying Catholics for decades. In 19 surveys, conducted from 2000 to 2010, CARA found that: “Catholics who attended a Catholic college or university are more likely than Catholics who attended a non-Catholic college (public or private) to:
- Attend Mass every week (34 percent compared to 19 percent)
- Register with a parish (75 percent compared to 55 percent)”
They also concluded that: “Across the board, Catholics who have attended a Catholic college or university are more likely than those who attended a non-Catholic college to respond in a manner that is more consistent with Church teachings and practice.”
In 2020, CARA conducted the National Poll of Young Catholics, which found that weekly Mass attenders “are more likely than monthly or less frequent attenders to have attended” a “Catholic college or university (19% compared to 10% and 9%, respectively).”
In November 2021, The Pillar commissioned a survey in support of their research on why Catholics leave the church. The Pillar found a strong connection between Catholic colleges and faith later in life. “We also asked respondents whether they had attended a Catholic college or university. Among respondents who went to college, 30% of those raised Catholic went to a Catholic-affiliated college or university. Those who went to a Catholic college were 23% more likely to remain Catholic and twice as likely to attend Mass weekly as those who did not.” Catholic schools do great things, but Catholic colleges seem to have an even bigger impact.
There is, as always with this kind of data, a chicken-and-egg problem; people more serious about their faith may be more likely to attend a religious college. The surveys also do not distinguish between Catholic colleges that are serious about their faith as opposed to those that were simply founded by Catholics at some point in the past. But even with those caveats, the impact of Catholic education cannot be ignored. The Pillar’s Brendan Hodge offers an insight as to why Catholic colleges might have such an impact:
Seventy-four percent of respondents who stopped going to Mass for a year or more did so during their teens or 20s. Perhaps in addition to opportunities for spiritual and intellectual formation, Catholic colleges simply offer more opportunities for students to attend Mass regularly, keeping up the habit.
Hodge is a very insightful writer, and I think he is right about this. But there may be something else at play too.
A healthy marriage–and particularly a marriage to a fellow Catholic–is immensely important to maintaining and passing on the faith. CARA once noted that:
Catholics who have married in the Church are five times more likely to have attended Catholic universities and colleges than their counterparts who decided to marry outside the Church. In fact, attendance at a Catholic college or university is the single most powerful correlate of having married in the Catholic Church (this positive association for Catholic college attendance and something faith-related is one among many found in CARA surveys).
Why might this be? Separately, CARA flagged the obvious impact of being around other Catholics: a Catholic is more likely to marry a fellow Catholic if that “Catholic will be in close proximity to other Catholics.” Perhaps attending a Catholic college leads to Catholic marriages, if not to classmates then to someone met through the networks and friends developed from having attended that college.
This is pretty strong evidence for the value of Catholic colleges. But I’ve personally seen some wonderful Catholic activities outside of Catholic colleges, and there is at least some data to back this up.
Grand Valley State University in West Michigan is less than four miles from my house. It is a state school that has quietly climbed in the rankings. The student body has a generic modern vibe, where some feel “hurt” because of the prospect of a Chick-fil-A coming to campus. The Catholic campus parish, increasingly full of students and non-students alike that are drawn in for the quality, orthodox preaching, is doing amazing things. The campus ministry is vibrant, confession is offered five days a week, and students (and other young adults) attend adoration, which twice a month features praise music.
The programs generate missionaries and marriages. For the year of Eucharistic Revival, Catholics recently made an Eucharistic procession (see photo at top) on campus.
Twenty miles away, amazing things are happening at Hope College. The Saint Benedict Institute runs an amazing and thoughtful campus ministry. They bring in interesting talks that enrich campus. They offer a snow Mass, which is exactly what it sounds like. This campus ministry has produced results, which include conversions, engagements, and at least one religious vocation. The Catholics on campus now have their own sacred space in an official school building in the center of campus—the beautiful Saint Anne Oratory.
Hope is a Protestant college, and not just any kind of Protestant, but Dutch, Calvinist, Reformed. This year, they held a Eucharistic procession on campus. I could not imagine a greater sign of victory than Catholic students processing with the Holy Eucharist through a Calvinist institution. The evidence supports these anecdotes. Hopefully, other colleges are experiencing similar phenomena.
More than twenty years ago, CARA polled Catholics and asked those who had attended college whether they had participated in a campus ministry. Those currently in a campus ministry attended Mass at significantly higher rates, and this carried forward into their post-college faith life, both in terms of Mass attendance and involvement in their parish. CARA’s 2020 survey also reflected significantly more frequent Mass attendance for those who had participated in such programs.
Professor Smith found that Catholics are less likely to attend a college religious group than members of other faith traditions. Only 15 percent of his Catholic respondents who had attended college reported ever being involved in a college-based religious group. CARA’s survey also found a 15 percent participation rate. These programs produce great results for their participants, but too few participate. Most Catholics at a non-Catholic school simply will not experience what these programs have to offer.
My kids are still years away from college, but the data has made me hope they find their way to a Catholic college. The faith impact justifies the cost.
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Great article!
Mr. Miller’s proposition — that Catholic colleges enhance the faith of Catholic students — surprises me.
It’s my experience that attending Catholic schools actually undermines the faith of students.
I hope Mr. Miller is correct.
I do wish that the term “Catholic college” had been defined. Are the Georgetowns and Notres and Gonzagas and St. Louis’s considered Catholic?
Brineyman, these are survey answers, so people saying they went to a Catholic college is the definition of a Catholic college for these purposes. There’s obviously a big difference between Georgetown and Catholic U, and that’s a definite limit to the analysis. But if the survey results that show a big impact treat Thomas Aquinas College in CA (a Newman Guide college) Aquinas College in MI (a school with some very nice trees) as Catholic Colleges, it suggests to me that it’s probably understating the impact of TAC.
There are colleges that simulate Catholicism and there are those that are unmistakenly Catholic in every fiber of their existence. (Among the latter, are they perfect? Of course not. No more than any candidate for political office is perfect.)
Seems like this article was written for Catholic schools to make a quick dollar off the uneducated and uninformed. To start with why is their tuition always so high? Receiving what is allegedly a “good Catholic education” should be affordable if not free for all families, especially those that are poor. Instead we see Catholic schools and colleges being more cost prohibitive than public or state schools.
There’s also the problem of how faculty and the student body treats individuals they perceive to be different in any way. There is a bully culture in Catholic schools that those who run the schools seem unwilling to address or correct.
Then we have the trouble with the girls at these schools having a reputation for being fast, loose, and easy. Growing up we guys always knew if you wanted to have a wild time, it was the Catholic high school girls who will deftly give you the experiences you’re looking for with minimal effort on your part. If you know what I mean, and most guys will.
If you want your children to make a hasty exit from the church the best option is sending them to Catholic school/colleges. They will quit the faith so fast and likely never return.
Not sure of your history/knowledge with Parochial schools but they generally do not qualify for state or local aid due to separation of church and state interpretations (thanks Lyndon) blah blah. Thus, to your last sentence in your first paragraph, the taxpayers, including the Catholics, pay for public schools through property taxes and state funding. We cannot compete with “free” from the secular world – where we do compete is quality. In our small community, many of the public high school’s “top ten” started out at the Catholic 1-8 grade school.
My kids had to go to public because of some theraoy help the state provided but would not get if they were at the Catholic school. I was surprised when one of the teachers proudly mentioned during p/t conferences that “our updated reading program is kinda like the one they have at the Catholic school,” as setting the bar.
Historically, nuns that used to staff schools and many many Catholic hospitals worked for basically free. The Church is not making any money on schools, they have to pay their teachers a living salary and also pay the payroll taxes like Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment etc that are applicable in that state.
“You Catholic girls start much too late” does not make it right. Also, if there is a bullying problem you should address it – that’s a problem in public schools as well. Kids should not even have cell phones until they’re older. All children public and private should have to wear uniforms, even if the state has to pay for them.
Keep the faith!
“Seems like this article was written for Catholic schools to make a quick dollar off the uneducated and uninformed. To start with why is their tuition always so high? Receiving what is allegedly a “good Catholic education” should be affordable if not free for all families, especially those that are poor. Instead we see Catholic schools and colleges being more cost prohibitive than public or state schools.”
“A preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in our Catholic Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the poor, the Church should be ready to use its resources for something else which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily for the upper classes while allowing the poor to remain in public schools. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must give up general education in those countries where the State is providing it. The resources of the Church could then be focused on “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. These resources could then be used to help society become more human in solidarity with the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. It can get along without them today. The essential factor from the Christian point of view is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
The problem with giving up general education is that far too often, the public schools teach things that are poisonous to Christian faith. Classes are often laden with secularism and underpinned by rationalism. Kids who spend their days in public schools are formed at least as much by those schools in their fundamental worldviews as by their church and families.
It would be wonderful to make Catholic schools available to the poor more consistently. In my diocese (Wichita) anyone who’s an active member of their parish is guaranteed to be able to send their kids to the Catholic schools without a cost barrier – tithing funds the schools. Hopefully more dioceses can implement similar models.
Dear T. Texan: You are, I am convinced, aware that Catholics in the middle and upper income categories pay taxes to local, State and Federal governments in support of government-operated educational facilities. These institutuons are there for the education of all – including the poor. Catholic parents who choose to send their children to Catholic schools pay twice
– for the education of the poor and all others as well as for the private school they send their children to. Catholic parents make significant sacrifices in order to have their children educated the way they deem best. So, to answer you: Catholic parents are already paying for the education of the poor and their tax money for education gives them no benefits whatsoever.
Deacon Edward….your research is incomplete. The largest public university in the country is Texas A&M and I would contend that it is also the largest and most active Catholic university. St Mary’s Catholic Center is the hub for an incredibly vibrant student ministry that has produced over 99 priests and dozens of consecrated women. Over 6,000 students attend Mass every week. There is Mass held in campus chapels every week. We have 8 FOCUS ministers leading the evangelization among campus groups . Annually we have a student -led Eucharistic procession and benediction across the campus . The mission statement for St.Marys is “ Creating apostles for the world” and they are delivering on that promise for thousands of Aggie Catholics . Visit the website at http://www.Aggie Catholic.org or come seee us
David Higdon: That’s music to my ears.
Higher education needs to teach kids to think beyond their cell phones; hopefully this is happening to some extent.
I wonder how many of those enrolled during the MI Prop 3 promotion voted because of that? I know some of the large universities had kids lined up that night.
Apart from the general statistics, yours truly proposes a look at some anecdotal information. After all, what does it mean, really, when Georgetown University’s CARA finds in 2020 the mass attendance rate at Catholic colleges is 19% rather than 10% on non-Catholic campuses. Meaning the dropout rate is only 80% rather than 90%…
Anecdotally, several years ago while dropping in at the thriving University of Washington Newman Center (founded in 1908; 800 students now attend Mass each weekend), I overheard that a former student, who had been a convinced and active member, then had transferred to Seattle University for graduate school—and lost her faith entirely. Again, only anecdotal.
But, what does it mean when the Jesuit Seattle University considers routinely amending its Faculty Handbook (and, other Jesuit universities like Georgetown?), and now runs into headwinds when it asks of itself: “what it means for Seattle University to be Jesuit and Catholic is a question for our collective discernment”? (A Catholic university where, reportedly, only one-fourth of the students now are Catholic, and where there’s a possible alternate view about the reported reform/demise (?) of the on-campus Matteo Ricci College/Institute.)
Here are two accounts regarding the Faculty Handbook, one from Seattle University’s student newspaper and the other a response/rejoinder from the Seattle University Administration. (Adding to the mix and from a few years back, yours truly recalls reading in the student newspaper, classified ads on how female students can sell their eggs.)
https://seattlespectator.com/2023/05/10/just-a-tad-jesuit-seattle-u-faculty-contest-handbook-changes/
https://www.seattleu.edu/who-we-are/leadership/office-of-the-president/updates/articles/coverage-of-faculty-handbook-review.php
Responding to the comments of those who were surprised by this article, I’d cite Dickens: “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Could Catholic colleges be better, more Catholic than they are? Certainly! But they still do provide SOMETHING by institutional commitment — some contact with the Church — that may be hit or miss elsewhere. George Washington University is nearby to me. Their campus ministry offers Mass, the sacraments, and adoration to students who want to avail themselves of the opportunities. The question for Catholic colleges is whether they are actively engaged in promoting the faith as part of students’ identity.
You shouldn’t have to dig to find the word “Jesus” on their website along with a crucifix.
The liklihood of finding a prospective Catholic spouse who takes their religion seriously and practices it faithfully in alignment with Catholic teaching is infinitely greater at a Newman -listed Catholic college than: a. any other “Catholic” college and b. any secular college or university. I don’t know if the Newman List sponsors have stats to back up my contention but, if they don’t, it would behoove them to commission such a study.
We all know that most Catholic colleges and universities are a moral, spiritual, and intellectual wasteland, scarcely any better than the degenerate public institutions on whom they are desperately modeling themselves. But the good news is that there is a small but growing number of truly Catholic places, and they are thriving, because it is increasingly important to Catholic parents and students to benefit from a Catholic environment. That is something very hopeful to celebrate.
There is so much I would like to say. At the age of 84 (nearly) I am constantly left in stunned amazement at things that happen at what happens in my life. I minister as Priest member of the Chaplaincy team at several secondary and primary schools. The number one reason is because I celebrate Mass in a way the includes everyone I am told. In this country yhe school inspectors have for years commented on yhe “spirituality” of
religious schools and the lack of it in non religious schools. External staff often comment on their pleasure at coming to the school. What effect that has on the long term relation the young people have with yhe Lord I can’t really say. But it’s not a bad start for them where “the Love these Christians have for one another” is, no matter how indefinable, apparent. Prayers please as J begin the round of encouraging the staffs of various religious educational establishmemts, to keep up the great work!
Statistics can sometimes be accurate but still misleading. Are the students who attend Catholic colleges/universities already more formed in their faith than those who attend public higher education? What prompts students to go to a more expensive Catholic school on the first place?
I do agree with Timathy J. that students and parents’ confidence in the Catholicity of Catholic higher education is often misplaced.
I cannot speak for the other schools on the Newman List (although I have known many solid Catholics from Franciscan in Ohio), but I can speak to the Newman-listed JP Catholic in California, whose recent (two days ago) graduating class shows every evidence of being a bold, talented and unabashedly Catholic group of young people. These leaders are on track to be saints and culture-changers, and should give us great hope. As a proud mom of one of those graduates, I cannot remember the last time I’ve witnessed such a joyful and exuberant community of young adults. I thank God for this place and am grateful for the Newman guide for leading us across the country to such an unexpectedly beautiful institution.