THE EFFECT OF SPIRITUALITY AND CAMPUS MINISTRY ON

ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Jessica Schubmehl, Stephen Cubbellotti, and

William Van Omum

ABSTRACT

In this experiment the effect of spirituEility and campus ministry involvement

on academic accomplishment was studied. It was hypothesized that students
who scored higher on the Index of Core Spiritual Experiences, hereafter known
as the INSPIRIT, taken from Measures of Religiosity (ffill, 1999), and who
were more involved in campus ministry activities, would have higher grade
point averages. A total of 247 Marist College sophomores and juniors were
administered a questionnaire that contained the INSPIRIT and a list of cam-
pus ministry activities. The students were asked to fill out both sections and
provide other information such as GPA, graduation year, and gender. Based
on the replies, the researchers scored the INSPIRIT and rated the students
involvement in campus ministry activities. The information was then entered
into the computer and a correlation study was performed.

INTRODUCTION

Similar studies in the same area of reseEirch have yielded the same
type of results as those found at Marist College. In a study by Zera
(1989), a sample of 251 college students were asked to describe their
own degree of religiousness and that of the home atmosphere in which
they grew up. That study found that about 75% of approximately 10%
of the sample of students who rated themselves higher than the atmo-
sphere they grew up in had grade point averages higher than the
sample mean. These results indicate that a higher degree of reli-
giousness should positively correlate with higher GPA in other college
students as well.
Other recent studies have shown that religion may help college and
high school students have a sense of inner control over their hfe and
surroundings. This feehng in turn helps college students adjust to their
new surroimdings faster than the average student and also may have

Requests for reprints should be sent to William Van Omum, Ph.D., School
of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York
12601-1387.
ADOLESCENCE, Vol. 44, No. 174, Summer 2009
Libra Publishers, Inc., 3089C Clairemont Dr., PMB 383, San Diego, CA 92117
a positive effect on their academic achievement. In a study by Mooney
(2005), two separate measures of religiosity were used and then corre-
lated with the students' academic achievement. Since this type of study
is similar to the Marist study, the findings are particularly pertinent.
A report by Keller (2001) showed that as students increased their
involvement in church life, their grades also tended to rise. This study
involved over 450 families in the north-central Iowa area and focused
on high school students. According to Keller, "Rural high school stu-
dents who were significantly involved in church activities generally
got better grades." King's research clearly indicated that increased
church activities not only increased students' academic achievement,
but also their social competence and self-perception.
In a related article by Loury (2004),findingsindicated "that religios-
ity dxoring adolescence has a significant effect on total number of years
of schooling attained." Over 2,700 students were observed on factors
that centered on the number of times they attended church rather
than their perceived spirituality or involvement in church activities.
Loury (2004) showed that church attendance during adolescence sig-
nificantly increased total years of schooling obtained. Though the pres-
ent article does not discuss the increase in academic achievement and
church attendance, it can be suggested that greater school attendance
leads to greater academic achievement.
It has been shown that "religious affiliation can affect the returns
from investments in education: among rehgious groups characterized
by larger benefits from schooling, the incentives to pursue education
are stronger and thus a higher level of attainment is expected, other
things being equal... rehgious affiliation can affect parents' willing-
ness and ability to supply funds for investments in schooling; a higher
level of education is expected for religious groups in which parents
have a greater willingness and ability to supply funds for such invest-
ments, other things being equal" (Lehrer, 1999). This is a reflection on
not only the child's spiritual involvement but that of the parents. As
suggested here, parents who play a large role in a child's spiritual life
also seem to play a larger role in the child's academic life. This larger
presence tends to keep children more motivated in their educational
pursuits.

METHOD

Participants
From Marist College's Campus Ministry organization, 195 females
and 52 males were surveyed. All participants were administered the

500
 same questionnaire at the same time. All participants were sophomore,
junior or senior members of the campus ministry program.
Materials
An informed consent form was read to the participants in order to
assure anonymity. Questionnaires consisted ofthe INSPIRIT, a list of
campus ministry activities, and other questions including GPA, gen-
der, and graduation year. Students were asked to indicate which activi-
ties they participate in. The researchers then scored the responses
according to a predetermined scale.
Procedure
All participants were administered the questionnaire at the same
time and at the same location. After completion, participants were
asked to place their questionnaires in a hox as they exited the room.
The researchers then scanned the questionnaire and discarded those
that were lacking necessary information. The remaining question-
naires were then numbered and scored.

RESULTS

A bivariate correlation was performed on the data. The range ofthe

ministry scale is 0 to 28, with a mean score of 4.59 (SD = 3.005) The
range ofthe INSPIRIT scale is 1.75 to 4.0, with a mean score of 2 3408
(SD = .53352). The range ofthe GPA scale is 0.0 to 4.0, with a mean
score of 3.48927 (SD = .322842). A significant correlation was found
between the INSPIRIT scale and the GPA scale, K245) = .049, p <
.05. A significant correlation was not found between the CampusMin-
istry scale and the GPA scale, r(245) = .125, p < .05. A significant
correlation was found between the INSPIRIT and the Campus Minis-
try scale, r(245) = .248, p < 01.

DISCUSSION

The researchers hypothesis that both the score ofthe INSPIRIT and
amount of involvement in Campus Ministry would correlate vdth a
higher GPA was incorrect. Disappointingly, there also was no signifi-
cant correlation between either the INSPIRIT and GPA and Campus
Ministry scale and GPA. Instead only a positive correlation between
the score on the INSPIRIT and the Campus Ministry scale was sup-

501
ported. These results may indicate that high level of involvement may
equal high spirituality and vice versa. The researchers do suggest fur-
ther studies of this possibility. With regard to limitations of this study,
the researchers feel the results might have been more reliable if the
questionnaire had been administered to the general population and
not just to members of Marist College Campus Ministry.
Further, the researchers feel that pjirticipation should have been
more equally balanced in terms of gender. Another factor that must be
taken into consideration is that the questionnaires were administered
mainly to sophomores and juniors.
Lastly, since other closely related studies have found that family
background plays a large role in academic achievement for both high
school and college students, "Structural models of education attain-
ment specify how differences in family backgroimd are translated into
varying educational attainment. Family background has both direct
and indirect effects on schooling" (Teachman, 1987), the researchers
believe it would be pertinent to include a section on family background
in a future study.

REFERENCES
Hill, P. C , & Hood, Jr., R. W. (1999). Index of core spiritual experiences.
Measures of Religiosity, 10(1), 360-365.
Keller, B. (2001). Rural education: Church and school. [Electronic Version].
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Lehrer, B. (1999). Religion as a determinant of educational attainment: An
economic perspective. [Electronic Version]. Social Science Research, 28,
358-79, Retrieved November 12, 2006 from ProQuest database.
Loury, L. D. (2004). Does church attendance really increase schooling?. [Elec-
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Mooney, M. (2005, December). Does religion influence college satisfaction or
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