By the time Laura Conrad arrived at Carnegie Mellon University for her freshman year, she had lost interest "in all that religious stuff" from her Jewish day school background in Newton, Mass.

Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Laura Conrad, 22, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon, works as a program associate for the Hillel Jewish University Center. Click photo for larger image.

But a funny thing happened to Conrad on her way through college: She became more religious. And she discovered that her self-described "liberal" views on politics and morals were strengthened by her spirituality.

"I don't think you can separate those things because they're part of who you are," said Conrad, 22, who graduated this past spring. "If anything, I just gained stronger beliefs."

Conrad's experience mirrors research released this week from a national study that found spirituality influences college students' political and social views.

While the study of 3,680 third-year college students at 46 institutions found some obvious trends -- that strongly religious students tend to identify themselves as politically conservative, for example -- it also showed that both strongly religious and less religious students favor gun control and disagree less about abolishing the death penalty than any other topic.

"We did not expect that [the students] would hold relatively liberal views on guns in particular and the death penalty," said Alexander W. Astin, director of UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute and co-principal investigator of the project.

"It convinces us that you can't think stereotypes about left and right and conservative and liberal when it comes to college students."

About 12,000 students were first surveyed in fall 2000 as freshmen. In spring 2003, as juniors, they were mailed surveys again and 32 percent responded. Astin said schools and students were promised anonymity.

Among the findings:

Students in fine arts and the humanities are about three times as likely as computer science and physical science majors to report high levels of spirituality.

"Partying" is a negative influence on spiritual development.

More than half the students -- 52 percent -- reported attending religious services the year before they entered college, but only 29 percent attended frequently by their junior year.

Women report significantly higher levels of spirituality and religiosity than men.

Students from the lowest income levels tend to show greater religious commitment and spirituality than well-off students.

The Higher Education Research Institute is an interdisciplinary center for research, evaluation, information and policy studies in post-secondary education. It plans a revised survey this fall of 100,000 freshmen at more than 100 colleges and universities.

Jared Wenger, 20, a rising junior at Carnegie Mellon from Carlisle, Cumberland County, attended a Reformed Baptist church with his family until he left for college.

"I was a little concerned that I might fall away from the routine I'd become accustomed to," he said. "It can be pretty tough at times. I'm not going to lie -- I don't always do what I believe."

But Wenger, a biology major, attends church twice on Sundays and is a "core" member of the Coalition for Christian Outreach campus ministry at Carnegie Mellon. He opposes abortion, gun control, gay rights and drug use and favors the death penalty.

"I try to make clear with everyone I interact with what I believe in and what I stand for," he said. "There have been occasions when I have been called ignorant. My political conservatism probably stems more from my religious, moral beliefs."

The survey showed that students depend on either campus ministries or themselves for spiritual growth. Three-quarters of those surveyed said that religion was personally helpful to them and that they discuss it with friends and peers, yet two-thirds said that professors never encouraged discussions of spiritual or religious matters.

Astin said colleges are "nervous about the S word," spirituality, comparing them to the European religious and political institutions threatened by the Enlightenment's notions of human rights and self-law in the 18th century.

"Higher education has totally neglected this aspect of the student's life," he said. "The vast majority of students are concerned about and interested in these issues and want a way to deal with this in college."

Virtually every campus in the country has student outreach ministry groups, which organize outings, services, meals and socials for interested students.

For Wenger, the Coalition for Christian Outreach is the center of his college universe.

For Conrad, the Hillel Jewish University Center provided a gravitational pull back to her spiritual roots. Now, since she's program associate for Carnegie Mellon, it's also providing her with a career.

"Lots of students from Jewish homes have no interest in doing more," she said. "Some have no concept about Judaism. If you can introduce them to their religion and get them involved ... that's great. At least knowing about your religion is an important thing."