Why Are College Students Leaving the Church?

Why are college students walking away from church? Why do so many of our brightest young people never return to the church or come back with battle scars after their college experience?

As a parent of a high school student, you may have these questions on your mind. Helping college students stay true to their faith is also on the heart of Thomas White, President of Cedarville University. 

As Dr. White explains in the video below, for some students who walk away from the church, it was a secular professor who challenged them with what Paul calls “worldly wisdom” in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, and they could not refute it with the godly wisdom of 1 Corinthians 2. For others, peer pressure produced spiritual drift, or a relationship with someone not as committed to the faith caused them to compromise. Perhaps, no longer able to ride the coattails of the family faith, they simply did not have a strong enough personal relationship with Christ.

“As the President of Cedarville University, I don’t want any of these things to ever happen to a student whom God has entrusted to our care. I know that we cannot change a person’s heart,” he explains, “but there are a few things we have done to ensure an intellectually challenging environment designed to encourage spiritual growth at the highest level to the glory of God.”

Watch the video below — “A Message to Parents” — to hear more of the conversation with Dr. White.