Religious education provides unique benefits, report finds

As religious education gains popularity nationwide, students are reaping the unique benefits of faith-based schools.

An April report from the Sutherland Institute details how both K-12 and higher education benefit from religious institutions.

The report, largely a summary review of previous research, notes that the early-American school system was created and sponsored primarily by churches, not the government.

“Elementary and secondary schools in the colonial and early Republic periods were predominantly religious,” wrote the report’s author William Duncan, Sutherland’s Constitutional Law & Religious Freedom fellow. “In fact, many of the colonies specifically promoted religious education in their laws.

“Education in America remained primarily under ecclesiastical control up to the middle of the nineteenth century.”

Now, about 4 million of the nation’s 54 million K-12 students are enrolled in a religious school.  

While the majority of students attend a public school, religious schools make up a lion’s share (67%) of private-sector institutions. Of all private schools, 20% are Catholic, 12% conservative Christian, 9% religiously affiliated and 26% unaffiliated.  

And the benefits of religious schools are innumerable.  

Previous research has shown religious students earn better grades and complete more schooling, even after accounting for demographic factors such as race, gender and family structure.  

Graduates of Christian schools are less likely to be divorced and less likely to have a child out of wedlock. 

One study from the University of Notre Dame even found Christian schools produced more charitable alumni than public schools.   

Alumni of religious schools, particularly classical Christian schools, were more involved in their churches and communities, more likely to volunteer their time, and generally had a more positive outlook on life.  

And such benefits aren’t limited to K-12 education.  

Students of religious colleges are:  

• More likely to participate in extracurriculars such as intercollegiate sports and academic societies 

• Less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol 

• More likely to view caring for the environment, fighting injustice and helping the poor as moral obligations 

• More likely to volunteer  

• And more likely to be married 

Like K-12 schools, America’s college system was also deeply rooted in Christianity. 

“Half of Harvard’s initial governing board were ministers,” writes Duncan. “Roger Geiger’s history of higher education in the United States notes that the ‘college was intended to uphold orthodox Puritanism.’ 

“Yale was formed partly by those who believed Harvard had failed in this religious aspiration and that another school should perform that function. The churches sponsored higher education before there were any state-sponsored colleges or universities; indeed before there were states.” 

Harvard was founded in 1636 and Yale in 1701.  

Because of the clear benefits of religious education, Duncan argues states should enact policies to protect such schools, including their right to operate according to their religious beliefs.  

“The selection of personnel is probably the most significant decision an institution must make in order to preserve and carry out its mission,” Duncan writes. “Legislatures can codify the rule that religious schools must be free to choose their own leaders, teachers, and other employees.”  

In the past, schools have faced lawsuits for holding staff to a Christian ethic.  

For example, a Catholic school in North Carolina was sued for alleged discrimination after dismissing a male teacher who announced he was engaged to another man. A federal court ruled against the Catholic school. It took an appeals court to later rule in favor of its religious freedom.  

Duncan also argues publicly available scholarship and grant funds should be accessible to religious schools as well – which matters greatly to many school choice students who want to use their scholarships to attend religious school.  

While a trilogy of Supreme Court decisions – Trinity v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana and Carson v. Makin – found it unconstitutional for private, religious institutions to be excluded from public funding, left-wing and establishment groups are still challenging the legality of school choice in numerous states.