Spirituality and religion are thriving among today's college students, but universities do little to support students in these interests, according to a new study released by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) of the University of California at Los Angeles.
HERI, a center for research and policy studies in post-secondary education, has extended the dialogue about the role of religion and spirituality in America to college campuses. The survey looked at how undergraduate students' spirituality and faculty's beliefs and behaviors influence religious development.
The study included a sample of 3,680 undergraduates from 46 U.S. universities and was conducted as a part of a continuing project investigating the growing interest on campuses to re-establish religion and spirituality in liberal arts education.
More than 70 percent of respondents demonstrate substantial levels of religious engagement, but 62 percent say their professors never encourage classroom discussion of religious or spiritual issues.
The survey considered a host of broad topics, including spirituality outlook, spiritual being and religious behaviors.
One of the main concerns of the project was to consider how spirituality affects other aspects of a student's college experience. The study found that spirituality is positively associated with optimism and a sense of personal empowerment, civic responsibility, and increased racial and ethnic awareness and tolerance.
Alexander W. Astin, the project's co-principal investigator, said while evidence points to high levels of spiritual and religious engagement among college students, institutions are not sufficiently encouraging students to explore these issues.
Several students felt the study was true of their own experiences with religion and spirituality in the classroom.
"There are no discussions of religion, whatsoever, in any of my classes so far," Elisabeth Long (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said.
Lauren Dowler (freshman-animal science) also said religious and spiritual issues are very rarely discussed in her classes.
"I think they're taboo topics. It's kind of don't ask, don't tell, but I think because we are in a university we should be mature enough to talk about other religions," Dowler said.
"Personally, I would love to learn about other religions and see how they relate to my own experience," Dowler added.
Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said Penn State is unique in its stance toward religion in the classroom in public universities.
"We're pretty different from most public universities. We have a decade-long dedication to supporting students' spiritual interests. You don't typically find that same commitment toward religious interests in other public schools," he said.
Student reaction was mixed concerning the appropriate role of religion in a public university like Penn State.
"Just because Penn State is a public school does not mean religion should be completely separated from the classroom," said Ann Petko (junior-human development and family studies).
Kristina Rasums (freshman-kinesiology) said religious issues in the classroom are appropriate in moderation.
"The issue of religion doesn't really bother me, but it depends on how far they take it and what detail they go into," she said.
Sharon Mortensen, director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, said a Penn State Pulse Survey conducted last spring revealed similar results among Penn State students.
In Penn State's survey, nearly 50 percent felt there was adequate campus support for religious and spiritual groups, while only one-third of the respondents found the student climate supportive.
Mortensen, however, said students seeking religious and spiritual development in the Penn State community are more fortunate than most.
"Every Penn State student's holistic development is taken into consideration, and a part of that development accounts for religiousness and spirituality," she said.
Mortensen also said Penn State students have advantages many other college students do not. "We are the only public university that I know of with a spiritual center at its disposal," she said.
"The Pasquerilla Center provides the opportunity for students to not only voluntarily practice their religion, but to expose themselves to new and different religions as well," she added.