Independent colleges and student engagement: Do religious affiliation and institutional type matter?

Abstract

This study extends previous work on the relationships between student engagement in spirituality-enhancing activities during college and selected student and institutional variables. Using the same data set and many of the same dependent variables as an analysis performed for the Teagle Foundation, this study for CIC examined more extensively the influence of institutional variables including multiple categories of religious affiliation, Carnegie classification, and control (public/private). Block hierarchical regression models were used to estimate the relationships between institutional type characteristics and nine dependent variables. Religious affiliation explained the most variance on three dependent variables and participating in spiritual activities (worship), gains in spiritual development (gnspirit), and gains in ethical development (gnethics). Students at faith-based institutions scored the highest on these dimensions, followed by Roman Catholic and Other Protestant-affiliated institutions. At the same time, students attending non-affiliated, private institutions did not differ in any appreciable way from their public school peers, with both groups generally engaging least often in spiritual activities. Although the effects were not as strong as with religious affiliation, students attending private institutions scored higher than their public school counterparts in certain areas such as participating in spiritual activities, engaging in deep learning, and in self-reported growth in spirituality, ethical development, personal and social development, and intellectual skills. The findings indicate religiously affiliated colleges and universities are not all alike and that there is more to learn about how institutional mission and environments influence student engagement and learning.