Education levels vary across different religious groups. Some faiths place a strong emphasis on religious education, while others focus more on secular schooling. Determining which religion has the highest level of educational attainment overall requires looking at census and survey data on educational levels broken down by religious affiliation.
There are a few key questions to consider when examining the relationship between religion and education:
What metrics are used to measure educational attainment?
The most common metrics used are:
– High school completion rate – The percentage of adherents who have graduated high school or attained a GED.
– College completion rate – The percentage who have completed a 2-year or 4-year college degree.
– Graduate degree rate – The percentage who have completed a Master’s, Doctoral, or professional degree.
How is religious affiliation categorized in the data?
Data sources may lump all Christians together or separate them into subgroups like Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, Historically Black Protestants, and others. Non-Christian faiths may also be split into specific traditions. Muslims might be divided into Sunni and Shia groups, for example. The degree of specificity can impact the analysis.
What is the benchmark for comparison?
Educational attainment among religious groups is often compared to the U.S. population average. But it can also be useful to compare religious groups to each other directly.
With these key considerations in mind, we can examine educational achievement levels among America’s major religious traditions.
Educational Attainment by Religious Tradition
One of the most comprehensive sources of data on education and religion in the U.S. is the Religious Landscape Study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2014. The table below summarizes the study’s findings on attainment of a college degree across religious groups:
| Religious Tradition | Percentage with a College Degree |
|---|---|
| Hindu | 77% |
| Jewish | 59% |
| Atheist/Agnostic | 43% |
| Mainline Protestant | 41% |
| Orthodox Christian | 32% |
| Catholic | 31% |
| Mormon | 31% |
| Muslim | 27% |
| Nothing in particular | 24% |
| Evangelical Protestant | 23% |
| Historically Black Protestant | 23% |
This table shows the percentage of those in each religious category ages 25 and older who have obtained a 2-year or 4-year college degree.
Hindus and Jews stand out as having the highest educational levels with 77% and 59% holding college degrees respectively. Atheists and agnostics have the next highest attainment at 43%.
Mainline Protestants and Orthodox Christians also exceed the U.S. average college completion rate of 36% by a considerable margin. Evangelical Protestants and Historically Black Protestants have among the lowest percentage of adherents with college degrees at just 23% each.
When comparing all Americans ages 25 and up across all education levels, the breakdown looks like this:
| Religious Tradition | High School Graduate | Some College | College Graduate | Post-graduate Degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | 97% | 48% | 48% | 29% |
| Jewish | 95% | 55% | 33% | 26% |
| Atheist/Agnostic | 95% | 49% | 30% | 13% |
| Mainline Protestant | 92% | 47% | 25% | 16% |
| Orthodox Christian | 91% | 49% | 22% | 10% |
| Catholic | 89% | 44% | 20% | 11% |
| Mormon | 91% | 43% | 21% | 10% |
| Muslim | 85% | 40% | 18% | 9% |
| Nothing in particular | 88% | 39% | 15% | 9% |
| Evangelical Protestant | 84% | 41% | 14% | 9% |
| Historically Black Protestant | 84% | 43% | 14% | 9% |
Here we see that Hindus maintain their top ranking across all education levels. 97% have completed high school and 29% have attained a post-graduate degree, the highest of all groups.
Jews and atheists/agnostics also perform very well across the board. Evangelical and Historically Black Protestants continue to be among the lowest. Just 14% of both traditions have completed a 4-year college degree and 9% have attained a post-graduate degree.
So Hindus, Jews, and atheists/agnostics stand out as having the highest overall educational levels among America’s major religious populations.
Factors Behind the Differences in Educational Attainment
A number of cultural, theological, and demographic factors help explain the variance in education levels across religious groups:
Cultural Emphasis on Education
Some faith groups place a stronger cultural value on education than others. Hindus and Jews have long esteemed academic achievement as a high priority. Education is viewed as a vehicle for upward mobility. The faiths also lack prohibitions against secular schooling, allowing them to excel.
Theology and Skepticism
Atheists, agnostics, and some Protestant traditions emphasize critical thinking and questioning traditional authority. This leads to openness toward scientific inquiry and academic rigor.
Access to Resources
Socioeconomic status also influences access to quality education. Jews, Hindus, and atheists/agnostics tend to have higher average incomes than other faiths, enabling them to live in better school districts or afford private schooling.
Immigration Trends
U.S. immigration policy often favors the educated, including those entering for high-skilled jobs in tech and science. Recent Hindu and Jewish immigrants are twice as likely as other newcomers to hold a bachelor’s degree. This boosts their groups’ overall education levels.
Gender Equality
Religions that promote greater gender equality see higher rates of female educational attainment. Gender gaps in schooling are lower among Jews and Hindus than among Christians and Muslims.
Racial Barriers
Historical racism and ongoing discrimination have suppressed educational opportunities for certain ethnicities concentrated in traditions like evangelical Protestantism and Black Protestantism.
Geographic Variations in Educational Attainment
There are also significant geographic differences in education levels within most U.S. religious groups:
Southern Evangelicals vs. Northwest Mainliners
In the South, 32% of evangelical Protestants have a college degree compared to 51% of evangelicals in the Northwest. This may reflect regional variances in the cultural importance placed on education.
Meanwhile, college completion rates for mainline Protestants range from 58% in New England down to 32% in the South. The North/South divide is often linked to differences in public school quality.
Western vs. Northeastern U.S. Catholics
Among Catholics, those in the Northeast are twice as likely as those in the West to have a college degree (41% vs. 21%), a pattern partly attributable to higher concentrations of Hispanic Catholics with lower education levels in Western states.
Coastal vs. Inland West Jews
Jewish college completion rates range from 77% in the Northeast to 65% in the Pacific region. Jews outside major urban centers in the Mountain West states have lower education levels, perhaps due to relative geographic and cultural isolation.
Muslim Immigrants by Region
Muslim immigrants in the Northeast tend to be highly educated professionals from Asia. Meanwhile, those in the South and Midwest come predominantly from Arab countries and have lower attainment levels on average. These regional immigration trends drive variances in Muslim education levels.
Changes Over Time in Educational Attainment
The religious landscape of America is constantly evolving, leading to shifts in education levels within faith groups:
Rise of the Religious “Nones”
The rapid growth of religious “nones” – those claiming no particular religion – consists mainly of college graduates leaving Christianity. This raises education levels among the unaffiliated.
Mainline Protestant Decline
As mainline Protestants decline as a share of the population, their overall education advantage has eroded. The most highly educated mainliners are exiting the faith faster than less educated members.
Hispanic Influx in Catholicism
Increasing numbers of less educated Hispanic Catholics account for much of the growth in the U.S. Catholic population. This is lowering Catholics’ overall education levels over time.
Hindus and Jews Maintain Advantage
Hindus and Jews in America continue to exceed other groups in terms of college completion and post-graduate degrees. Immigration of educated professionals sustains their advantage.
Conclusion
Hindu, Jewish, and atheist/agnostic Americans stand at the top in terms of educational attainment among U.S. religious faiths. Mainline Protestants and Orthodox Christians also exceed average attainment levels. At the lower end are evangelical Protestants and Historically Black Protestants. Factors like cultural emphasis on education, access to resources, immigration patterns, and racial discrimination help explain these group differences.
Key takeaways include:
– Hindus have the highest percentage of college and post-graduate degree holders, followed by Jews, atheists/agnostics, and mainline Protestants.
– Evangelical and Black Protestants consistently have among the lowest education levels.
– There are significant geographic variances in education within most U.S. religious groups.
– Recent changes in America’s religious landscape are impacting education levels in different faiths.
While America remains a robustly religious nation, the data show a clear correlation between high education levels and certain non-Christian faiths or secular identity. Yet the relationship between religion and education in the U.S. continues to evolve along with the changing religious composition.