More College Students Majoring in Religion

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A growing number of college students are opting to major in religious studies rather than in such traditional areas as business and science. The trend, already striking, may well become larger in coming decades as an influx of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious minorities further diversifies the U.S. population away from its Jewish and Christian roots.

In the 1994-95 academic year, more than 44,000 freshmen at 427 U.S. colleges and universities declared religion or theology as their major, according to a study published by the American Council on Education and the University of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute. Likewise, a 1995 study of 251 …