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Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The percentage of undergraduate students’ completing a baccalaureate degree (graduating) is a national concern. Despite the supportive environment of faith-based colleges—which includes emphasis on both students’ spirituality and academic engagement—Christian colleges struggle with similar student persistence challenges. This study examined demographic group differences on undergraduate students’ spirituality and academic engagement at Christian colleges, and the relationship between spirituality and academic engagement constructs in these institutional contexts. Four private, independent, faith-based institutions in North America which administered the Christian Life Survey (CLS) in the fall of 2014 and also administered the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in 2013, 2014, or 2015 were identified. De-identified, record-level data sets which merged students’ responses to the CLS and NSSE were requested from each institution (N=215). MANOVA and post-hoc ANOVA analyses were conducted for demographic group differences (gender, race, age, and institution) on spirituality and academic engagement, and multiple regression analyzed the relationship between the spirituality and academic engagement constructs. There were group differences on race, age, and institution for spirituality, and there were group differences on gender, race, and age for academic engagement. Several spirituality constructs were predictive of some academic engagement constructs. Of the three spiritual foci, only God focus was predictive of academic engagement. However, each of the five spiritual orientations were predictive of academic engagement. More specifically, stronger Student-Faculty Interactions, Effective Teaching, or Supportive Environment are frequently predictive of stronger spirituality in undergraduate students in Christian college contexts. Implications of the results and additional questions for further research were also discussed.