Survey Ranks Devoutness of Nation’s Universities

What makes a Christian college? Students who pray a lot, hold traditional views on sexuality and illegal drugs and, in more than a few cases, are prodigious beer drinkers.

In a survey of some 56,000 students at 310 of the nation’s colleges, Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University was rated as the most religious school, while Loyola Marymount University ranked third. The least religious--according to students’ perceptions of their peers--was Reed College in Portland, Ore.

What typified the top 10 colleges on the list--ranging from the University of Notre Dame to Calvin College, an evangelical school in Grand Rapids, Mich.--were their strong religious identity.

In the wide-ranging rankings, several of the most religious schools also showed up on related Top 20 lists of colleges with “traditional” views on homosexuality and as the places where students are least likely to indulge in hard liquor or illegal drugs.

But when it came to judging the schools where the suds flow most freely, four Catholic colleges, two Presbyterian schools and two Methodist colleges were among the top 20 beer-drinking institutions in higher education.

The survey results were published in the Princeton Review’s 1997 edition of “The Best 310 Colleges.”

The findings were based on written surveys distributed at each school. At least 100 students at each college completed the survey but, in most cases, more than 200 students responded.

Ed Custard, co-author of the guide, said the results are not scientific but defended the rankings as “pretty accurate,” based on feedback from parents, students and counselors.

The spirituality rankings were based on responses to a question asking whether students at their school were very religious.

Church-related colleges have struggled with how to maintain a religious identity while balancing church doctrine with academic freedom. A key factor in the colleges identified as having the most religious student bodies, according to Custard, is whether the institution is intentional about its identity.

Following Brigham Young, the rest of the top 10 were Grove City College, Furman University, Loyola Marymount--which is based in Los Angeles--Samford University, College of the Holy Cross, University of Dallas, Notre Dame, Baylor University and Calvin College.

“I wouldn’t say I’m terribly surprised at any of the names on the list. . . . These are schools that have a strong religious tradition,” said Philip Gleason, a history professor at Notre Dame.

Although many church-affiliated schools were shut out, the religious Top 20 contained such surprises as the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy and one state school--the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.