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Most university students and faculty members consider spirituality to be an important part of their lives, according to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA scheduled to be released today.

Over 40,000 professors from 421 colleges and universities and 112,232 first-year students from 235 colleges and universities were surveyed about how their religious and spiritual beliefs affect their everyday activities.

Seventy-nine percent of freshmen surveyed said they believed in God, and 69 percent said they pray. Eighty-one percent considered themselves spiritual.

The study found a link between students’ political views and their religious involvement, stating that “among students who show high levels of religious engagement, conservatives outnumber liberals by better than three to one.”

In addition to answering questions about how often they attend religious services and the importance of religion in their daily lives, students were asked to agree or disagree with statements that included whether marijuana and abortion should be legal and the role women should play in the family. The study found that students with high levels of religious engagement are more likely to support increasing military spending and oppose the death penalty.

Faculty members were administered questions from the HERI faculty survey, which has been given every three years since 1989. The survey asks a wide range of questions to college and university faculty members regarding their approaches to teaching. This year, 21 items focused on spirituality.

“We found that faculty indeed claim to be spiritual,” Helen Astin said.

Faculty were asked how responsible they were for helping students find meaning in their lives and how their personal spiritual views affected their personal and professional traits.

“Faculty do see a place in the spiritual dimension of their lives in their work and workplace,” Lindholm said. “The fact that we found both those things raises questions on a number of levels. For example, how can faculty incorporate this aspect of their lives into their work and how can institutions help with that?”

The project was led by Alexander Astin, professor emeritus of higher education and founding director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program; his wife, Helen Astin, professor emeritus of higher education and senior scholar at the HERI; and Jennifer Lindholm, project director at the HERI and associate director of the CIRP.

Leaders of the study said the survey was aimed at learning more about a subject that has not been fully explored.

“(Spirituality) is an area of student life and development about which we know very little,” Alexander Astin said. “It’s a critical part of ... personal development. It can affect their academic work and what they get out of college.”

The spirituality questions were part of a larger survey given to freshmen across the nation every year that focuses on a variety of topics, including future goals and attitudes about politics. The participants will be surveyed again in spring of 2007 to see how their beliefs and opinions have changed.

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