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One distinguishing characteristic of many private colleges is that they are affiliated with a particular religious tradition.  In the U.S. there are Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Christian Science, Mormon, Hindu and Buddhist colleges.  Many of the college guides will list religious affiliation along with size, location and other features of each college.  Knowing a college has a particular religious affiliation gives you some information about the history of the college and might provide some clues about its mission, but don’t assume you know what it means without further investigation. 

If you are not a member of the religious tradition with which a particular college is affiliated you still could feel very much at home there as a student.  In some cases religious affiliation has little impact on the daily operation of the college.  Most of the current students and faculty may not be affiliated with the religious tradition of the schools founders.  The college may even state that the affiliation is historical, but that there is no longer any formal connection between the religious organization and the school administration. 

The schools mission may be focused on some values which apply regardless of religious belief such as providing an education which fosters intellectual growth and prepares students for professional success while instilling in them a commitment to ethical conduct and service to the community.  If these values reflect what you want to get out of college and they are the educational mission of a college affiliated with the Society of Friends (Quakers) don’t let the religious affiliation keep you from considering if this is the right school for you to attend. 

Instead, you need to find out how religious this religiously affiliated college is and what that mean in terms of what a student experiences in and out of the classroom.  There are several questions you can ask which will help you assess the significance of the religious affiliation on what you will experience.

• Does the college require faculty to belong to the affiliated religion?
• Does the college ask students to make any statement about their faith as part of the application?[1]
• Does the school indicate it gives preference in admission to applicants who are members of their religious tradition?
• What percentage of the students are members of the affiliated religious tradition?
• What percentage of the faculty are members of the affiliated religious tradition?
• Are there required theology courses?[2]
• Do they require student attendance at religious services?
• Can a student be disciplined or dismissed for violating conduct rules that are based on religious beliefs and are not typical rules at most colleges?
• How does the religious affiliate affect campus life outside the classroom?

Some of these questions can be answered by reading the information provided by the college on their website or in their printed recruiting materials.  The admissions office may be able to provide you with answers to many of the other questions. 

However, to get a realistic feel for how religious affiliation will effect your experience as a student there is no better source than currently enrolled students.  When asking about the impact of religion on campus life be sure to frame your questions in a respectful and neutral manner.  The student you are speaking with may be a devout member of the religion with which the school is associated, and asking them questions that indicate you are hostile toward or amused by their faith is disrespectful. 

It also isn’t in your best interest to ask questions in a way that clearly communicates the answer you want to hear.  People are good at picking up these signals and consciously of unconsciously editing their answers to gain your approval.  You are looking for information, not asking someone to validate your personal beliefs, so ask these questions as someone who really wants to know what life is like at Faith College.  Whether you get the answers you like or answers that seem to confirm your worst fears thank the student for sharing information that is helping you decide where to apply or enroll.

If you are a member of the religious tradition with which a college is affiliated you need to ask some additional questions.  First, you need to ask yourself whether you would benefit from attending a college where you will have the opportunity to practice your faith in a supportive community.  Since much of the learning you will be doing in college takes place outside the classroom, it is perfectly reasonable to have as one of your reasons for going to college the desire to develop your spiritual beliefs and to find ways of putting those beliefs into practice. 

Remember, the best reason to attend college is to prepare yourself to live a more successful and more satisfying life than you otherwise would have lived had you not gone to college.  If you make sense of your life partly through religious beliefs don’t discount the importance of developing those beliefs when you select a college.  All other things being equal, you might want to choose a college that provides you with more opportunities to deepen your understanding of your religious beliefs and the traditions of your faith community. 

On the other hand, many people find that the best way to deepen their religious beliefs is to first broaden them.  Having been raised in a church that offered one perspective they take advantage of the opportunity learn about or to experience other beliefs and traditions. 

If that is where you are in relationship to your current religious community then you may actually appreciate being a religious minority on campus.  Being a religious minority may put you in situations where you are asked to explain why you hold your beliefs rather than the beliefs of your fellow students or faculty, and explaining your beliefs is one of the surest methods of clarify in your own mind why you believe what you believe.  Even if you aren’t asked to account for your beliefs, simply being surrounded by people who hold contrasting views is likely to cause you to question why you hold your beliefs and may lead to greater clarity and conviction. 

Of course many college students also discover that some of the beliefs they developed as a child don’t hold up well to examination.  If that happens to you it could be an unsettling experience and you could find yourself unsure of what to believe and how you should conduct yourself. 

While it may be unsettling to question your current beliefs, it can also be a wonderful opportunity to grow from simply repeating the religious beliefs you were given to claiming a personal belief system that powerfully expressed who you are and what you stand for in the world.  At their best that is what those required theology classes at religiously affiliated colleges that respect other religious traditions hope to accomplish.  They push students to articulate what they believe and why they believe it, and in the process you may develop confidence in a set of core religious or ethical beliefs that will help you choose how you want to conduct your life.

A second question you should ask yourself if you are considering one or more colleges affiliated with your religion is whether your faith is an asset to that college.  If their mission includes expressing or advancing a particular religious tradition it seems reasonable that they will be better able to carry out that mission with students who are members of their religious tradition. 

It may be that members of that tradition are given preferential admission.  You might be able to aim at a slightly more selective college than you would likely be admitted into with your high school record and admissions test scores if you are a member of the religious group it exists to support.  A few colleges even offer reduced tuition for church members.  If the idea of attending a college affiliated with your religion appeals to you or at least doesn’t turn you off take a careful look at the list of colleges with ties to your religion.  This connection may well help you get more than your money’s worth from your college investment.