STUDY: COLLEGE STUDENTS HIGHLY INTERESTED IN SPIRITUALITY

Hey all,

Here is a very interesting study on College students. The harvest and plentiful and the workers are always few.

Rich

STUDY: COLLEGE STUDENTS HIGHLY INTERESTED IN SPIRITUALITY

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) - As many as 80% of college students are interested in spirituality and 74% claim to have discussions about the meaning of life with friends, according to the latest study by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute.

"College students appear to put a premium on their spiritual development," says Alexander Astin, co-principal investigator for the project. "They are clearly very interested in these larger questions in life, and many of them hope that the college experience will support them in their spiritual quest.

"The challenge for higher education is to understand the priority young people place on these issues and explore how well they are supporting their students' quest."

The study, based on a survey of 112,232 freshmen at 236 colleges and universities conducted last fall, finds that students are searching for deeper meaning in their lives, looking for ways to cultivate their inner selves, seeking to be compassionate and charitable and deciding what they believe about social and global issues, according to a news release.

Of the students surveyed, 76% are searching for meaning and purpose in life, 81% attend religious services, 80% discuss religion or spirituality with friends, 79% believe in God and 69% pray.

Researchers also say today's college students are tolerant of the non-religious as well, with 83% agreeing that "non-religious people can be just as moral as religious believers" and 64% saying "most people can grow spiritually without being religious."

Students' political views may be related to their level of religious involvement, the study finds, because among the most religious students, conservatives outnumber liberals by more than three to one. Even so, the survey indicated more liberals than conservatives are on a spiritual quest and care about their fellow man.

UCLA's institute also reports that students with high levels of religious engagement are far less likely to believe abortion should be legal, think casual sex is okay, support same-sex "marriage," and endorse legalization of marijuana than students with low levels of religious engagement.

Contrary to what many secular educators contend, 67% of the students surveyed said they consider it "essential" or "very important" that their college play a role in developing their personal values and 48% say it is essential or very important that colleges encourage their personal expression of spirituality. (Source: Baptist Press, www.sbcbaptistpress.org)