Liberalization of Views Cited at Catholic Colleges

Students become more liberal on abortion and other matters while attending Roman Catholic colleges and universities, according to the president of a group that says schools should strictly follow church teaching.

The data on student attitudes came from an annual survey by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. They were cited by Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society in an article for Catholic World Report magazine.

Though the views of all students generally became more liberal during their college careers, the UCLA surveys found, the study adds to the long-running debate over Catholic colleges’ relation to the church.

Among freshmen entering Catholic colleges, 38% supported legalized abortion; four years later 52% of the same students held that view. The survey showed similar results for Catholic students attending non-Catholic colleges.

Similar liberalizing attitudes occurred among Catholic students on premarital sex and same-sex marriage. There were also declines in self-reported Catholic religious preference, church attendance and frequency of praying.

Reilly cautioned that the results do not necessarily represent all Catholic campuses, a point college officials also made.

However, Reilly contended, the data indicate “increasing dissent and declining morality” during the four years. It is “negligence bordering on irresponsibility” for Catholic educators to ignore the problem, he said.