Churches and other religious groups have historically made an important contribution to education in the United States.

Today, many students are educated by religious schools – and that number has increased during the pandemic. In an article about the trend, The New York Times noted:

The median member school in the Association of Christian Schools International, one of the country’s largest networks of evangelical schools, grew its K-12 enrollment by 12 percent between 2019-20 and 2020-21. The Association of Classical Christian Schools, another conservative network, expanded to educating about 59,200 students this year from an estimated 50,500 in the 2018-19 school year.

Catholic schools have also recorded growth during the pandemic.

Pre-pandemic statistics indicate that just over 10 percent of elementary and secondary students in the United States attended private schools, with more than 75 percent of these in religious schools.

Similarly, many prominent universities have roots in religious faith, having begun as religious institutions.

In addition to these institutional contributions to education, some new research recently highlighted by the Deseret News points to important individual contributions.

Ilana Horwitz, a sociology professor at Tulane University, has written a new book, God, Grades, and Graduation: Religion’s Surprising Impact on Academic Success, that examines the individual contribution of religion to academic success. Horwitz notes:

Over the past 30 years, sociologists and economists have conducted several studies that consistently show a positive relationship between religiosity and academic success. These studies show that more religious students earn better grades and complete more schooling than less religious peers.

Horwitz’s own research found that “intensely religious teens,” defined as those who “see religion as very important, attend religious services at least once a week, pray at least once a day, and believe in God with absolute certainty,” “are more likely than average to earn higher GPAs and complete more college education.” She stresses: “Theological belief on its own is not enough to influence how children behave – they also need to be part of a religious community.”

The careful study found that this advantage existed “even after accounting for various other background factors, including race, gender, geographic region and family structure,” and even when the teens were compared with siblings.

These advantages are particularly marked for those who come from working-class and middle-class families.

This is consistent with research that suggests youth participation in religious practices promotes a wide range of physical and mental health benefits.

As in other areas, religious practice contributes to the individual well-being of adherents and, by extension, to community well-being. This is an important reason that protection of religious practice benefits not only religious people, but society as a whole.