UCLA--While today's college students have a very high level of interest and involvement in spirituality and religion, there are important differences among student subgroups, most significantly between African Americans and Whites, and between men and women, according to new research from UCLA.

• 95% of African Americans believe in God, compared to 84% of Latinos, 78% of Whites, and 65% of Asian Americans 
• 91% of African Americans pray, compared to 75% of Latinos and 67% of Whites 
• 53% of African Americans attend religious services frequently, compared to 42% of Whites, 39% of Latinos, and 35% of Asian Americans 
  
• The Spiritual Life of College Students: A National tudy of College Students' Search for Meaning and Purpose, Full Report.    Spirituality in Higher Education, Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA

Statistics compiled last fall by the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, show a significant increase in enrollment at religious colleges. From 1990 to 2004, independent religious schools (the government classifies about 900 of them) saw a 27.5 percent increase in enrollment. That was comparable to the increase at private colleges (28 percent).

But if more kids than ever are interested in religious education, they aren’t showing it in their vocational choices. The Lewis Center for Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary, released a recent study showing a significant, 20-year decline across mainline denominations, both Protestant and Catholic, in numbers of clergy under age 35.

• Enrollment Statistics

(Ventura, CA) – A new study by The Barna Group (Ventura, California) shows that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years – and often beyond that. In total, six out of ten twentysomethings were involved in a church during their teen years, but have failed to translate that into active spirituality during their early adulthood.

• Half of teens attend a church-related service or activity in a typical week.
• Three out of five teens attend at least one youth group meeting at a church during a typical three month period.
• There is also a substantial amount of unorthodox spiritual activity: three-quarters of America’s teenaged youths have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related activity during their teen years (not including reading horoscopes).
• Only one-fifth of twentysomethings (20%) have maintained a level of spiritual activity consistent with their high school experiences. Another one-fifth of teens (19%) were never significantly reached by a Christian community of faith during their teens and have remained disconnected from the Christian faith.
  
• Download PowerPoint® Slides