Multi-year Study Unveils Key Insights on Virtue Formation in Secular and Faith-Based Higher Education

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How does virtue form in students at universities? What are the distinctive features of Christian study centers and institutes for Catholic thought, and what is the nature of Christian education they offer? Are Christian study centers adjacent to secular universities are uniquely positioned to provide a hybrid model of educational and religious development?

To answer these types of questions, the Lumen Christi Institute participated in a two-year study with researchers and experts from Baylor University, to examine virtue formation in higher education moral communities, both secular and faith-based. 

Over a two-year period, researchers conducted longitudinal studies of students at three religiously affiliated institutions, five centers or institutes for Christian study that promote spiritual formation and community for college students, and the five secular universities whose students those Christian study centers serve. Institutes or centers for Christian study are organizations and facilities adjacent to campuses that serve students in a shared religious context to think and live as Christians, students and citizens.

The research team employed both qualitative and quantitative data gathering and interviews, along with program mapping and evaluation, to measure intellectual, moral, performance and civic virtue development and to investigate the impact on virtue formation across different contexts. 

We’re sharing the results of this two-year study here. Read the results of the two year study here: Christian Higher Education at Secular Universities: A Multiple-Case Study of Christian Study Centers and Institutes for Catholic Thought.