Spirituality and College Students

Recently, the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA reported a summary of initial findings of a study entitled "A National Study of College Students' Search for Meaning and Purpose." For more detailed information see http://www.spirituality.ucla.edu/ (this article summarizes their findings). This ongoing study will track the attitudes and beliefs of college students as they progress from their freshman to their junior year of college. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation, it was undertaken in part out of a concern that colleges have been devoting much more attention to the "exterior" aspects of students’ lives than to the "interior" dimensions of their lives.

In the late summer and early fall of 2004, 112,232 freshman attending 236 colleges and universities throughout the United States answered a six-page survey that addressed questions pertaining to spiritual and religious matters. Reflecting on some of the results of this study can be illuminating for those who minister to young adults.

• Four in five of these students entering college say that they believe in the sacredness of life and have an interest in spirituality.
• Almost two-thirds agree strongly with the statement, "My spirituality is a source of joy."
• More than three-fourths of these students believe in God, over two-thirds say they pray, and more than two in three indicate that their religious or spiritual beliefs provide them with strength, support, and guidance.
• 63% of these students rate "helping others who are in difficulty" as "essential" or "very important" goals in life.
• The majority of these freshmen think that their colleges have a responsibility to help them develop emotionally and spiritually.

As many pastoral ministers who work with young adults today have reported anecdotally, those with the highest levels of religious engagement and commitment tend to have more conservative political viewpoints. This study understands "religious engagement" in terms of attending religious services, praying and reading sacred texts. It envisions "religious commitment" as following religious teachings in everyday life, finding religion to be personally helpful, and gaining personal strength by trusting in a higher power (p. 8). The tendency toward a conservative viewpoint is reflected in the students’ attitudes toward abortion, casual sex, same-sex marriage, and legalizing marijuana.

At the same time, more of the religiously engaged students (compared with those displaying a low level of religious engagement) support abolition of the death penalty and fewer of them endorse the elimination of affirmative action in college admissions. Three-fourths of students with a high level of religious engagement believe that the federal government should do more to control the sale of handguns.

UCLA is also attempting to relate religious interest and practice to psychological well-being. The initial findings are intriguing. As stated in the summary, "students with high scores on Spirituality are not immune to the psychological stressors of life" (p. 13). For example, these students indicated a greater openness to seeking personal counseling during their college years. (This indicator, however, could also be interpreted positively as a willingness to seek help if needed and a desire for personal growth.)

Those who manifest a higher interest in spirituality are much more likely to report that they have "been able to find meaning in times of hardship" and have "felt at peace/centered." As noted, it makes sense that spiritually inclined students would experience some degree of psychological stress if they are choosing more challenging life paths focused on social justice and service of others. It is also understandable that these same students would be more apt to discover meaning in the face of hardship and experience inner peace in their lives.

Among those surveyed, students identifying their religious preference as Roman Catholic were the most numerous (28%). The denomination with the next largest percentage was Baptist (13%). Those who indicated their religious preference as "none" numbered 17%. Mormons (comprising 4%) manifested the highest levels of religious commitment and religious engagement. Roman Catholic students tended to score below the overall average in the categories of religious commitment and religious engagement. This finding should be a concern for all of us who minister to Catholic young adults.

The survey results also state: "The study revealed that today’s college students have very high levels of spiritual interest and involvement. Many are actively engaged in a spiritual quest and are exploring the meaning and purpose of life. They also display high levels of religious commitment and involvement."

Those of us who minister to Catholic young adults, particularly in the area of vocational discernment, would do well to pay attention to studies like this one. It seems to indicate that today’s college students, often named the "millennial" generation (referring to those born after 1980), have vibrant spiritual desires and inclinations. They also have a more evident interest in service to others and in collaboration with their peers in carrying out such service. It is important for us to tap into these desires and inclinations. We need to offer them balanced, thoughtful guidance in their decision-making. And it is essential that we communicate to them the depth and breadth of our Catholic spiritual tradition. We need to become adept at "making the connections" between the questions and desires of these young adults and the resources available in our rich tradition. And it will be important that we try to do that without allowing our own ideological biases -- either conservative or liberal -- to get in the way.

By Robin Ryan, C.P.