Parallelism of U'S' Religious Trends and Christian Higher Education Enrollment from the 1960s throug

1
Parallelism of U.S. Religious Trends and
Christian Higher Education Enrollment from the
1960s through 2001

• Andrew Tatusko
• Mount Aloysius College

2
Religiously Affiliated Higher Education Decline
or Boom?

• Numerous histories of higher education have
  argued that there has been a decline or dying
  out of religiously-affiliated higher education.
• But what does the enrollment data really tell us?
• Moreover, how are these data informed by trends
  in religious behavior in American culture?

3
What Are Causes for Decline?

• Pluralism
• Social Activism
• Higher Education Market
• Mission Drift
• Loss of Distinctiveness

4
Loss of Distinctiveness Leads to Decline

• Vesey (1965) the rise of secular and
  utilitarian higher education.
• Marsden (1992) - growing influence of liberal
  theology.
• Sloan (1994) neo-Orthodoxy and the two-sphere
  approach.
• Burtchaell (1998) a circumstantial and
  indirect connection.

5
However

• If it is the case that many larger institutions
  have separated from their sponsoring religious
  founding organizations
• Does this necessarily imply that religious
  higher education is a dying breed of higher
  education?

6
The Other Half of the Story
Source NCES. (2003). Fall enrollment and number
of degree-granting institutions, by control and
affiliation of institution Selected years, 1980
to 2001.Washington, D.C. NCES.
7
The Other Half of the Story
Source NCES. (2003). Fall enrollment and number
of degree-granting institutions, by control and
affiliation of institution Selected years, 1980
to 2001.Washington, D.C. NCES.
8
The Other Half of the Story
Sources NCES. (2003). Fall enrollment and number
of degree-granting institutions, by control and
affiliation of institution Selected years, 1980
to 2001.Washington, D.C. NCES. CCCU.The booming
decade CCCU enrollment trends summary for the
1990s.
9
How Religious Are We?

• Since 1990 US Religious Affiliation has hovered
  at 85 Christian.
• Mainline denomination attendance dropped about
  20 between the 1950s and 1990s (Hout, 2001).
• Chaves (1990) notes that religious involvement
  since the 1920s has hovered between 37 and 41
  with a spike in church attendance in 1955 and
  1958 at 49.

10
How Religious Are We?

• The 1980s and beyond pick up many of the value
  bases from the 1950s and return to a more
  traditional religious pattern (Hastings Hoge,
  1981 Hoge et. al., 1981 Hoge et. al., 1987).
• The shift may be due to lifecycle and fertility
  effects rather than choice or preference
  demographic imperative (Hout, et. al., 2001).

11
Mainline Decline
Source Hout, M., Greeley, A., Wilde, M.
(2001). The demographic imperative in religious
change in the united states. American Journal of
Sociology, 107(2), p. 480.
12
Fertility and Switching Effects
Source Hout, M., Greeley, A., Wilde, M.
(2001). The demographic imperative in religious
change in the united states. American Journal of
Sociology, 107(2), p. 492.
13
How Religious Are We?
Source Ploch, D. R., Hastings, D. W. (1994).
Graphic presentations of church attendance using
general social survey data. Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 33(1), p.22.
14
How Religious Are We?

• Conservatives and evangelicals are
• More likely to inter-marry
• Have an increased rate of birth than those in
  mainline liberal denominations
• Follow the general pattern of life-cycle effects
• Less likely to switch to a mainline liberal
  denomination

15
Hypothesis
The cultural pattern towards more conservative
orientation in religious belief, value, and
behavior runs parallel to the enrollment
increases in religiously affiliated institutions
that are also more conservatively oriented.
16
What Will the Future of Religiously-Affiliated
Higher Education Look Like and What Does This
Mean?

• There is a healthy market in private higher
  education for religiously-affiliated institutions
• No evidence of an imminent enrollment decline,
  but rather a steady increase
• Higher education an extension of ecclesial life
• Smaller, more conservative
• Market distinctiveness and diversity
• Iannacone, Fink Stark, 1997 Supply-Side
  Religion

17
References

• Burtchaell, J. T. (1998). The dying of the light
  The disengagement of colleges and universities
  from their christian churches.Grand Rapids,
  Mich. W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
• CCCU.The booming decade CCCU enrollment trends
  summary for the 1990s. Retrieved June 21, 2005,
  from http//www.cccu.org/resourcecenter/resID.2421
  ,parentCatID.77/rc_detail.asp
• Chaves, M. (1989). Secularization and religious
  revival Evidence from U.S. church attendance
  rates, 1972-1986. Journal for the Scientific
  Study of Religion, 28(4), 464-477.
• Firebaugh, G., Harley, B. (1991). Trends and
  U.S. church attendance Secularization and
  revivial, or merely lifestyle effects? Journal
  for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30(4),
  487-500.
• Hastings, P., Hoge, D. R. (1981). Religious
  trends among college students, 1948-79. Social
  Forces, 60(2), 517-531.
• Hout, M., Greeley, A., Wilde, M. (2001). The
  demographic imperative in religious change in the
  united states. American Journal of Sociology,
  107(2), 468-500.
• Hoge, D. R., Luna, C., Miller, D. K. (1981).
  Trends in college students' values between 1952
  and 1979 A return to the fifties? Sociology of
  Education, 54(4), 263-274.
• Hoge, D. R., Hoge, J. L., Wittenberg, J.
  (1987). The return of the fifties Trends in
  college students' values between 1952 and 1984.
  Sociological Forum, 2(3), 263-274.
• Marsden, G. M., Longfield, B. J. (Eds.).
  (1992). The secularization of the academy.New
  York Oxford University Press.
• NCES. (2003). Fall enrollment and number of
  degree-granting institutions, by control and
  affiliation of institution Selected years, 1980
  to 2001.Washington, D.C. NCES.
• Ploch, D. R., Hastings, D. W. (1994). Graphic
  presentations of church attendance using general
  social survey data. Journal for the Scientific
  Study of Religion, 33(1), 16-33.
• Sloan, D. (1994). Faith and knowledge Mainline
  protestantism and american higher education (1st
  ed.). Louisville, Ky. Westminster John Knox
  Press.
• Veysey, L. R. (1965). The emergence of the
  american university.Chicago University of
  Chicago.