How “Religious” Are the Religion-Affiliated LACs?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I will admit that when first starting out, I had no idea how large the number was of Liberal Arts Colleges (near the East coast anyway) that have religious affiliations.</p>

<p>And the affiliation, at first glance, is usually not obvious at all. At least some schools do include the affiliation in the name (Eastern Nazarene, Wisconsin Lutheran) but most don’t.</p>

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<p>So here is a quiz, by the way, that I just made up. Of the four schools below - guess, by name only, the one college that is not affiliated with a religious order, sect or domination:</p>

<p>Green Mountain
Stone Hill
Trinity
University of Dayton</p>

<p>If you happen to already know the answer, fine. But just by seeing the names of the school, the answer might surprise you.</p>

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<p>Well, anyway, the real question is how much does the affiliation affect the day-to-day life of the students? For example, everyone seems to rave about Muhlenberg. I thought, cool, I went to Grad School at Penn State, I know people who went to MC and liked it (granted a very long time ago). I’ll go check and see if my D is interested. Then I looked it up and saw that it has an affiliation. </p>

<p>I have images in my head of old movies where attending chapel was required and bible-study classes and stern chaplains who rule over the manor with a wooden paddle.</p>

<p>No need to worry, or of some concern? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>The majority of schools that have a religious affiliation have little required religiously, except potentially taking a religion or philosophy course. The ones that are more oriented to belief and other requirements are pretty evident (BYU, Bob Jones, etc).</p>

3

<p>Muhlenberg has an historical religious affilitation in name only…currently approx 35% Jewish so yea…</p>

<p>I don’t think that Trinity College (CT) (despite the name) is religiously actively affiliated since they do have an active Hillel…</p>

<p>Just two that I am aware of…</p>

4

<p>The way a religious affiliation expresses itself differs college to college. You should be able to look up or ask to see the document outlining the affiliation. At Rhodes we have a covenant with the local synod of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The practical impact is that students have to take a three course sequence in biblical studies or western philosophy. There’s also a chaplain who is a member of the student affairs staff, ecumenical services like a baccalaureate service at graduation, etc. There are no required chapels, though, and no one is required or pressured to be a Christian.</p>

5

<p>It really varies by school. I think most religiously affiliated schools don’t require much of anything except for possibly a religion course (which often doesn’t even have to be Christian). Colleges that require chapel antecedence tend to be conservative, evangelical or Baptist colleges and it’s still something you need to check. Usually, all it takes is a quick trip to its “About” page. If they have strict requirements, it will show up there.</p>