Most Colleges Do Not Offer Campus Organizations for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim Students

August 16, 2022

A recent study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University and Oklahoma State University has revealed that the majority of U.S. colleges and universities do not offer campus clubs or groups for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim students. 

The researchers assessed religious organizations at 1,953 four-year, not-for-profit colleges and universities. They found that 66 percent have no minority religious student group of any type. Buddhist and Hindu student groups each exist at only 5 percent of campuses. One-quarter of the schools have Jewish student organizations, and 28 percent have groups for Muslim students. 

The study also examined institutional characteristics and found that certain types of colleges and universities are more likely to offer such groups. Forty percent of public higher education institutions have these organizations, compared with 27 percent of private Christian colleges. “This is partly because Christian colleges or universities are legally allowed to discriminate against non-Christian students, including by refusing to recognize non-Christian student groups,” the researchers note in an article for the website The Conversation. “Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim students may also avoid attending Christian colleges and universities in the first place.”

Source: Most Colleges Do Not Offer Campus Organizations for Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim Students