Engagement and Satisfaction of Nonreligious Students

• In Event: Religious Engagement and Interactions in Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education research on the effects of religious affiliation on student engagement and satisfaction has overwhelmingly focused on religious students. Demographic changes have led to students without a religious affiliation now representing about half of the incoming cohorts. A HERI-UCLA dataset of 16,148 students from 141 institutions was used to analyze how college students’ engagement, satisfaction, and performance differ between religiously affiliated and unaffiliated students. This quantitative study found that religiously unaffiliated students were significantly worse off in almost all aspects of their college experience, they were less engaged and less satisfied. No difference was found in performance (GPA) between religious and non-religious students.

Author

• Jose A. Fernandez-Calvo, Wowlat Foundation
  Presenting Author