By MICHAEL GRYBOSKI - THE CHRISTIAN POST
Added: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:57:08 UTC

WASHINGTON – Millennials enrolled in religious colleges are just as likely to leave the religious affiliation of their childhood as students enrolled at public universities, a new survey found.

"Among Millennials who have attended or are attending a religiously-affiliated college or university, only 5 percent were raised unaffiliated and 16 percent currently describe themselves as unaffiliated," said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, to The Christian Post about his survey, which was presented at Georgetown University on Thursday.

"This suggests that they are about as likely to switch to become unaffiliated as Millennials overall."

The 2012 Millennial Values Survey was coauthored by Jones; Dr. Thomas Banchoff, director of Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs; and Daniel Cox, research director for PRRI.

It found that there was significant movement in the religious affiliation of a Millennial's childhood to his/her current affiliation, with the largest religious growth in the "unaffiliated" category, as it increased from 11 percent in childhood to 25 percent currently, a 14-point increase. The Catholic category saw the greatest loss, from 28 percent in childhood to 20.0 percent at present, or a near 8-point decline in Catholic affiliation.

TAGGED: POLLS, RELIGION