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March
5, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 5Oakland,
CA
Catholic college
alumni
place higher value on their education
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WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- Alumni of Catholic colleges and universities rank their education
and the values they learned in those institutions far more highly than
alumni of major public universities do, education researcher Jim Day told
a national gathering of Catholic college and university presidents last
month.
The alumni of Catholic schools were considerably more likely than their
public university counterparts to say they benefited from opportunities
for spiritual development in their college years, experienced an integration
of values and ethics in classroom discussions and were helped to develop
moral principles that can guide actions, he reported.
Day presented findings of his study, based on extensive telephone surveys
over the past several years of more than 2,000 alumni of Catholic colleges
and universities, flagship public universities, and church-affiliated
and not-church-affiliated private institutions of higher learning, at
the annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
Of those surveyed, 308 were alumni of institutions that belong to the
National Catholic College Admission Association. That organization, an
association of most U.S. Catholic colleges and universities, commissioned
that segment of the research.
Day is one of the principals of Hardwick-Day, a firm in Bloomington, Minn.,
that specializes in consultation and research for private higher education.
He said the
term “flagship public universities” used in the study refers
to the 147 public institutions that U.S. News and World Report identified
in 1999 as “national universities.”
While only 53 percent of the public university alumni agreed that there
was a sense of community among the students in their schools, 82 percent
of those who graduated from Catholic institutions felt that way. Among
other church-affiliated and unaffiliated private institutions, the numbers
were 84 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
Alumni of Catholic institutions were almost three times as likely as those
from the public universities -- 75 percent versus 27 percent -- to say
that they experienced an integration of values and ethics in classroom
discussions. The figures were 70 percent for other church-affiliated schools
and 47 percent for unaffiliated private schools.
Did college help them integrate faith with other aspects of life? Among
alumni of Catholic schools, 57 percent agreed; other church-affiliated,
60 percent; unaffiliated private, 25 percent; and public, 12 percent.
Fifty-two percent of alumni of Catholic institutions said they “benefited
very much” from the opportunities their college offered for spiritual
development. The figure was similar for other church-affiliated schools,
51 percent, but it dropped to 16 percent for other private institutions
and 7 percent for the public institutions.
Among Catholics who attended Catholic institutions, 58 percent said they
benefited very much from the spiritual development opportunities offered.
Only 34 percent of Catholics who attended other church-affiliated schools
said the same.
A higher percentage of those who attended Catholic institutions were primarily
responsible for their own tuition than were those who attended other types
of institutions, and more at the Catholic schools had taken out loans
to attend college.
While just under half of those who graduated from the public institutions
said they got their degree in four years or less, about three-fourths
of those in the other three groups did so. But only 32 percent of the
alumni of Catholic institutions had gone on for graduate degrees, compared
with 35 percent from other church-affiliated schools, 42 percent from
other private schools and 28 percent from public universities.
For all four groups, the researchers obtained random samples of alumni
who graduated between 1970 and 1999. Day told Catholic News Service that
the data were tested to see if length of time since graduation affected
people’s assessment of the character and quality of their educational
experience, and it was found not to be a factor.
He said the research indicated that Catholic institutions are “performing
very well in terms of their mission” by not only educating students
for jobs and careers but also helping them grow in faith and values and
leading them to become active in the church after graduation.
Among just the Catholic alumni in all four groups, 54 percent who attended
Catholic institutions said they learned more about their faith while in
college. That dropped to 35 percent among Catholics who attended other
church-affiliated schools and 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively,
for those who attended public or other private schools.
Among the Catholic alumni, 66 percent of those who went to Catholic institutions
said college helped them integrate faith with other aspects of life; only
33 percent said the same of their experience at other church-affiliated
institutions; that dropped to 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively,
at the other private and the public institutions.
When Catholic alumni were asked how effectively their college had helped
them develop moral principles that can guide their actions, 85 percent
of those who attended a Catholic institution ranked it four or five on
a one-to-five scale ranging from “not at all effective” to
“extremely effective”; 71 percent said the same for other
church-affiliated schools; 53 percent for other private schools; and 38
percent for the public universities.
Nearly four-fifths of Catholic alumni who attended a Catholic or other
church-affiliated school said they were involved in church-related volunteer
work; among those who attended public or other private schools, fewer
than two-thirds did such volunteer work.
With a sample of 308 surveyed among alumni of Catholic institutions, the
margin of error was plus or minus 5.7 percent. The size of the other samples
ranged from 530 to 614, for a margin of error ranging from 4 percent to
4.3 percent.
