How students deal with these questions has obvious implications for many practical decisions they will make, including
their choices of courses, majors, and careers, not to mention whether they opt to stay in college, drop out, or pursue
postgraduate study. Seeking answers to these questions is also
directly relevant to developing personal qualities such as self-understanding, empathy, caring, and social responsibility.
Despite the extraordinary amount of research conducted on
college students’ growth and development—more than 5,000
studies in the past four decades—very little systematic research
has been conducted on students’ spiritual development. The
latest comprehensive review of the literature has no references
to spirituality and only two references to religion.
In recent years there has been a surge of interest in the topic
of spirituality among some scholars and practitioners in higher
education. Aside from a few studies of students’ religious
development conducted mainly at religiously affiliated colleges, very little empirical research has been conducted on
students’ spiritual development. This study was motivated, in
part, to address this gap in the literature and to shed light on a
little-understood but potentially important topic.
The lack of interest in spirituality within the research community is evident in our colleges and universities. Institutions
continue to emphasize test scores, grades, credits, and degrees,
but increasingly neglect students’ inner development—the
sphere of values and beliefs, emotional maturity, moral development, spirituality, and self-understanding. How students
define their spirituality or the particular meaning they make
national study of students’
spiritual development
students attending 136 institutions of all types—large and small, public and private, religious and nonreli- gious—were surveyed for the Astin study. Data were weighted to approximate the results if all baccalau-reate-granting colleges and universities in the country
had participated. A total of 14,527 students completed two
survey instruments: one in 2004 as they were entering
college as new freshmen and a follow-up survey that was
administered in 2007 at the end of their junior year. Faculty
members at the institutions were also surveyed, and personal interviews were conducted with selected faculty and
students.
of their lives is not an issue. More concerning is the fact that
the relative amount of attention that colleges and universities devote to the inner and outer aspects of students’ lives is
unbalanced.
In his recent book, The Decline of the Secular University
(Oxford University Press, 2006), C. John Summerville put it
succinctly: “The academy lost sight of what should have been
its primary function, teaching students to explore the most
fundamental questions of the universe, including the signifi-
cance of their own existence.”
It is ironic that many of the great literary and philosophical
traditions that constitute the core of a liberal education are
grounded in the maxim “know thyself,” yet the development
of self-awareness receives very little attention in our colleges
and universities. If students lack self-understanding—the
capacity to see themselves clearly and honestly and to
understand why they feel and act as they do— how can we
expect them to become responsible parents, professionals,
and citizens?
Another consideration that stimulated the study of spiritual
development was the manner in which students’ concerns
and values have changed over recent decades. Annual surveys
of entering college freshmen show that the personal goal of
“being very well off financially” has grown dramatically in
popularity, while the value of “developing a meaningful philosophy of life”— the highest-ranked concern in the 1970s—
has declined sharply among students. This is not completely
surprising. Over time, students have become more anxious
about their futures and more overwhelmed by everything they
have to do: balance school with paid employment, finance
their college education, and find a job after college. At the
same time, these personal concerns are exacerbated by national
and global changes: a deteriorating economy, an environment
that is being depleted of its natural resources, and religious
and political conflicts resulting in bloodshed and destruction
around the globe.
Despite what seems to be growing materialism and declin-
ing concern with existential questions among college students,
this study shows that most students still maintain a strong
interest in spiritual and religious matters. A full 80 percent
of surveyed students express “an interest in spirituality” and
“believe in the sacredness of life.” Nearly two-thirds of those
surveyed report, “My spirituality is a source of joy.” Surveyed
students also hold strong religious beliefs. More than 75
percent believe in God and more than two-thirds say that
their religious or spiritual beliefs “provide me with strength,
support, and guidance.” Finally, three-fourths of surveyed stu-
dents report feeling a “sense of connection with God/Higher
Power that transcends my personal self.”
When they enter college as new freshmen, surveyed students
also express high expectations for their own spiritual develop-
ment. More than 80 percent report that “to find my purpose
in life” is at least a “somewhat” important reason for attending
college; half say it’s a “very important” reason. Two-thirds of
new freshmen surveyed say that it is either “very important”
or “essential” that college “helps you develop your personal
values” and “enhances your self-understanding.”
Surveyed students also demonstrate a high level of religious
tolerance and acceptance. Ninety percent of surveyed college
