Religious affiliation

Not unless I'm seeking religious training...

Understandable for some, but not a requirement for me. I try to avoid colleges/universities with affiliations, because I lack a definitive one for myself.

Universities are for EDUCATION,not indoctrination into religion.If you fear losing your religious beliefs from attending ANY college or university,they must be awful shaky to begin with.

not important, don't buy into the religious affiliation.

It's up to the individual. Some people want to have a strong religious component, some none at all, some a little bit, some don't care.. etc. Personally, it happened to not be the case for me, but there are a lot of top notch schools with a religious affiliation of one kind or another. I have no problems with this at all- EXCEPT for Bob Jones University, a farcical, "you too can get a college degree on the inside cover of a matchbook school" devoted to hatred of interracial relationships, non-whites, Jews, Catholics, and others which epitomizes the out to lunch segment of the far right evangelicals as well as showing some degree of legitimacy to some of the crudest redneck stereotypes. Yeah, they modified and toned down their policies somewhat: but only because they were pressured to. This is not a knock on Republicans- BUT- I have yet to see ANY Republican who's able to successfully defend or adequately explain to me Bush's appearance at that toilet of ignorance prior to his first el... Read more

This is only important if you don't want to encounter new types of people and new ideas.

There are some excellent religious colleges, with a broad and open minded approach to education, but I wouldn't make it the deciding factor in your decision.

That's a dumb reason to pick a college.

If you are planning to attend a theological seminary or the such, then religion would no doubt play a very important role in what college you go to. But if you are planning to work outside of the church, then you should not put this as high on your list. All colleges have Bible study groups that cater to students, so your needs will be met. The decision should be based on your own career/educational plans. Sometimes smaller religious colleges do not offer a good breadth to its curriculum on fields outside of ministry or religious studies and people considering going to a religious college ought to consider this before making a decision.

The less church affiliation, the better - unless you're studying for the priesthood.

The less religious affiliation, the better (unless you're talking about a seminary, of course).

With any religion or faith, its not the believers that need to be converted, but the non-believers. Besides, most universities either have different religious clubs on campus or are runned by the rlues of a religion (Liberty, Barry, etc.).

It is wallowing in understatement to say that religious beliefs have nothing to do with education.

"Whenever we read of the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that us cruel." - Thomas Paine "Age of Reason"

If you go to BYU or Texas Christian, I can see it being a factor but otherwise it shouldn't be applicable.

I didn't have much faith in people who chose a college soley on religion. You should go to college to experience different people, not simply have your own views spouted back at you.

I'm not a religious fundamentalist, but I put a high value in any institution that has a religious foundation. It sounds stronger than a soulless, secular place.

Not important to me. I'm a Christian who attends a state school. We have lots of organizations for different religions and cultures and stuff. It's nice to be exposed to all that. I think it enhances my learing experience.

Oh phooey. The only reasons this should be important is if you're A) really religious and don't feel as though you could be happy at an un- or otherwise-affiliated university; or else you feel as though you couldn't practice your religion somewhere else; or B) you're super paranoid of or biased against other religions. I went to a small, private, Catholic university as an atheist, and if anything, my college experience was enhanced by learning about another religious tradition. For the most part, though, no one cared what religion I practiced (if any). Shouldn't really be a factor unless A or B applies to you.

It's something to be taken into consideration, but I don't think one should exclude a school because of it's religous affiliation or lack thereof. I happen to be a Lutheran attending a Lutheran college(though the two other schools I were considering were a Catholic one and a state one), and lots of people from other churches go here too, so I guess it isn't that important to too many people.

The importance of this one is as individual as the person selecting the college and I think it could go either way. For instance, if you were a Baptist I doubt very much if BYU would be calling your name. However, you might be either non-religious or extremely so and not see this as a reason to select a school. By the same token, I can't see too many athiests deciding to select a small private religiously based college. Most state colleges have organizations for everyone when it comes to expressing religious or other belief systems...so, I don't think I would select a school based on this reason alone (unless I were going into some kind of religious life or job). I think academics, reputation, faculty and major offerings are more important in the long run.