Religious Minorities and Persistence at a Systemic Religiously-Affiliated University

Abstract

There is paucity in the professional literature regarding the religious minority in religiously affiliated colleges and universities. This exploratory study analyzed one conservative private religiously affiliated university and the persistence rates of both the religious majority and religious minority. Crosstabs and chi-square analysis indicated a significant difference in persistence from the freshman to sophomore year between college students who identify with the religion affiliated with the school and those students who do not. A review of the retention literature and implications of these findings on future research are discussed.