It was in 1990 that Pope John Paul II wrote the apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae (On Catholic Universities), insisting that Catholic colleges and universities “assure in an institutional manner a Christian presence in the university world confronting the great problems of society and culture.”

Seventeen years later, the forces of secularization that largely spurred his writing have only increased in strength and reach.

Many Catholic universities are today striving to reclaim their Catholic identity. Administrators, faculty, students and alumni are asking: What does it mean that our college or university is Catholic?

Some have begun trying to work out an answer by the numbers.

This spring, 36 Catholic colleges will add a set of questions to the annual National Survey of Student Engagement to measure students’ awareness of the schools’ Catholic mission. What their answers reveal will add to a growing body of research on, and discussion about, the idea of the Catholic university.

Meanwhile the National Catholic College Admission Association (catholiccollegesonline.org) recently commissioned Hardwick-Day, a Minnesota-based college consultancy, to ask alumni of various colleges to rate their ethical, moral and spiritual learning.

The results were surprising — and, to those concerned that Catholic education in the United States is on a slippery slope toward full secular status, at least somewhat heartening.

The Hardwick-Day study showed that 78% of Catholic-college alumni get involved in faith-related activities after graduation. This compares with 65% for graduates of other private colleges and 62% for those who earned their degrees at public institutions.

Also notable: Majorities of Catholic-school graduates reported learning more about their faith (54%), gaining greater social awareness (70%) and placing more importance on integrating their values into their lives (85%).

Of course, all those indicators are subjective and wanting for context. A student could learn “more about” his faith without learning the faith itself, for example. Nevertheless, some Catholic-education watchers see promise in the percentages.

“We commissioned the study to substantiate what we’ve believed about our schools for a long time — namely, that Catholic education is distinctive and special,” says Brian Lynch, executive director of the National Catholic College Admission Association.

Hardwick-Day’s James Day agrees that Catholic colleges offer something unique.

“Active learning — involvement between students and professors, students themselves, students and dynamic programs — is the source of educational success and college satisfaction,” Day told the Register. “These kinds of involvement are far, far more frequently experienced by graduates of smaller and mission-based institutions.”

Intriguing Indicators

Alumni of other Christian colleges, surveyed by Hardwick-Day as a control group, reported similar outcomes to Catholic-school graduates in areas like volunteerism, moral development and sense of purpose. They reported an 18% higher attendance at church during college and a generally stronger belief in the importance of integrating faith with daily life.

But they rated their schools significantly lower than the Catholic-school grads on helping students and graduates achieve that integration (33% vs. 66%). And they rated their schools 20 percentage points lower than Catholic ones on helping students understand the intellectual aspects of Christian faith. 

Day says these differences might have to do with variances in student population and overall tradition.

“Academic inquiry is the chief occupation of students at Catholic schools,” he says. “At some other church-related colleges, this might be a secondary objective to serving the faith.”

Participation in church activities is a more universal expectation in evangelical Protestant culture, for example.

“Also, a more significant percentage of Catholic-school graduates are not Catholic,” adds Day. “They didn’t come to be involved day-to-day with the Church, but they identified with the Church’s values.”

In Ex Corde Ecclesiae, John Paul wrote that Catholic universities should display four essential characteristics. Two of these are “a continuing reflection in the light of the Catholic faith upon the growing treasury of human knowledge” and “an institutional commitment to the service of the people of God and of the human family in their pilgrimage to the transcendent goal which gives meaning to life.”

Ellen Boylan, director of institutional research at Marywood University in Pennsylvania, believes that surveying students and graduates of Catholic colleges “can tell us, relative to what Ex Corde Ecclesiae says about these areas, whether we are doing our job.”

In 2004, she began developing questions to add to Marywood’s edition of the widely used National Survey of Student Engagement, which is administered to hundreds of schools by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University (nsse.iub.edu).

Boylan’s modified version of this survey, which 35 other colleges have now adopted, asks about student awareness of the school’s mission and religious heritage, participation in ethical and theological thought and opportunities for community service.

A fine starting point, that, but is a way not still needed to discern whether Catholic colleges and universities display the other two “essential characteristics” John Paul set forth?

Catholic institutions, he wrote, must manifest “Christian inspiration not only of individuals but of the university community” and “fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church.”

These two recent surveys have not tracked how Catholic teaching is represented in coursework, especially theology classes. Neither survey asked whether theology professors had received the mandatum, an acknowledgement by the local bishop that professors teaching Catholic theology have promised to present it faithfully in the classroom.

Nor did the surveys ask students whether or not they experienced an accurate presentation of Catholic teaching.

“The closest we get is asking whether the school’s mission is reflected in course offerings,” says Marywood’s Boylan.

Missing the Mandatum

Both surveys asked students whether they learned more about their faith in college, but did not track their grasp of the particulars of Catholic doctrine. Since questions were geared to all students at Catholic schools, not just Catholic students, those who reported “learning more about their faith” may or may not have been referring to the Catholic faith, Boylan says.

And, whatever students’ faith, any self-evaluation of learning during college would be affected by how much they already knew.

“We get reported experiences and perceptions from graduates, not objective proof” of how a school is doing, Day acknowledges.

Often, though, reported experiences are illuminating. Joel Recznik, vice president of enrollment management at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, says that participating two years ago in a trial of Boylan’s Survey confirmed some hopes he had for students.

“Their experience matches what we’re attempting to do,” Recznik says. “We focus on encouraging students to develop their faith as well as academic life, to grow in character and virtue. Most of our students reported attendance at daily Mass. So, as far as religious practice, we believe we’re going in the right direction.”

Says Day: “To the extent there are things here that Catholic schools would like to do better, and do better than other colleges, this research shows where you meet or don’t meet your expectations.”

Katy Carl writes from St. Louis.

Resources
Go to ncregister.com and click on Resources for more on mandatum schools.