College Students More Interested In Spirituality Than Religion

College Students More Interested In Spirituality Than Religion

Two articles recently caught my attention from the Ivy Jungle Update regarding the increasing quest of college students to identify and develop their own spirituality.

College Students Seek Meaning in Life: Researchers at the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute say their work shows that college students are in fact "spiritual but not religious."  For most college students, attendance at religious services decreases during their time on campus.  The study shows that approximately 43% of incoming freshman say they "frequently attend" services and only  about 20% say they "never attend."  By junior year those frequently attending has dropped to about  25% while those not attending at all are about 37%.   However, the researchers report a "significant growth" among students nationwide in the desire to "engage in a spiritual quest, to be more caring, and to develop and ecumenical worldview."   By junior year theses students showed sometimes significant increases in categories such as the  importance in "helping others in difficulty"; "reducing pain and suffering in the world;" "improving my understanding of other countries and cultures;" and support for "improving the human condition."  The study, which encompassed more than 14, 000 students from 136 campuses, describes these categories as increases in spirituality. 

More on Religion and Spirituality:   The UCLA study on Spirituality in Higher Education study shows that students who entered college  reported an increase in their desire to grow spiritually, despite a drop in religious activities.  The researchers in the study define religion as "primarily belonging in a community of faith and following a dogma and the principles of a particular faith."  They define spirituality more broadly as "the search for meaning in one's life" and posing existential questions.  Increases in attitudes toward an "ecumenical worldview" (see above) were evident between freshman year and junior year.   However, most religious practices and beliefs such as prayer, belief in life after death, the importance of following religious teachings or personal rating of their own "religiousness" remained essentially flat.  Attendance at services dropped significantly.  Researchers are uncertain of the cause for the increases as 60% of students say professors never encourage discussion of religious or spiritual matters.