Christian Education: Making a Difference in the Lives of Graduates

Christian Education: Making a Difference in the Lives of Graduates

We welcome Lynn Swaner as a guest blog writer.  Lynn works for Cardus and has recently published research about the impact of Christian schools on students.  As an EduDeo supporter we know that you care about Christian education and desire to extend Christ-centred education to the majority world.  We hope that Lynn’s research is an encouragement to you as you continue to support the efforts of our partners and schools in the Canadian context.   

Christian educators often talk about transformation. We hope that students are transformed intellectually, spiritually, relationally, and morally during their years in Christian schools. We pray that what happens in classrooms, chapels, athletic fields, and hallways shapes not only what students know, but also who they become.

But does Christian education make a measurable difference in the lives of graduates?

For decades, that question was difficult to answer with rigor. While many schools could point to meaningful stories and anecdotal evidence, there existed little large-scale research examining the long-term outcomes of Christian schooling. That is one reason the Cardus Education Survey (CES) was launched in 2011 and subsequently repeated across the United States, Canada, and Australia. The CES surveys adults ages 24–39 from a variety of school sectors—including public schools, Protestant Christian schools, Catholic schools, nonreligious independent schools, and homeschooling—while using a nationally representative sample and controlling for graduates’ background demographics. This enables the CES to gauge the difference attending a specific kind of school can have on a range of outcomes tied to human flourishing, including academic and vocational attainment, spiritual life, civic engagement, relationships, generosity, well-being, and purpose.

The CES has become one of the most comprehensive studies of educational sector outcomes available today. Its findings offer an important opportunity for Christian educators, as a valuable window into what endures in graduates’ lives years after they leave school. So, when it comes to the question of whether Christian education makes a difference for graduates, what does the most recent research suggest? In the sections that follow, the most recent CES findings from the US offer a window into how Christian education may shape the formation of graduates’ minds, hearts, and hands.

Formation of the Mind

In recent years, many Christian schools have renewed their focus on academic excellence alongside spiritual formation. The latest CES findings from the US suggest their efforts are bearing fruit. In the 2023 survey data, graduates of Protestant Christian schools reported feeling well prepared for college and career and are earning bachelor’s degrees at slightly higher rates than their public school peers. These findings are encouraging, particularly given longstanding stereotypes that Christian schools must choose whether to prioritize faith formation or academic rigor.

At the same time, the data also reveal room for continued growth. Protestant Christian school graduates still trail graduates from Catholic and nonreligious independent schools in some measures of academic preparation and postsecondary attainment. That reality invites thoughtful reflection for Christian school leaders who desire to pursue excellence in every dimension of school life.

Formation of the Heart

One of the clearest and most consistent findings across every iteration of the CES relates to spiritual formation. Graduates of Protestant Christian schools report significantly higher levels of religious engagement than peers from other school sectors. They are more likely to attend religious services regularly, pray frequently, read Scripture, believe in God and life after death, and describe faith as important in their daily lives. Importantly, these patterns have remained remarkably stable across more than a decade of research.

No school can guarantee the faith of its graduates. Faith formation is always shaped by families, churches, relationships, and most importantly, the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet the CES findings do suggest that Christian schools can play a meaningful role in cultivating practices, beliefs, and habits that endure into adulthood. At a time when many institutions are struggling to sustain meaningful forms of belonging and purpose, these findings matter. They remind us that Christian education is not simply about adding religious content to a conventional education model. At its best, it offers a coherent vision of life ordered toward truth, goodness, and love of God and neighbor.

Formation of the Hands

The impact of Christian schooling also appears in how graduates engage their communities. CES findings indicate that Protestant Christian school graduates are more likely to volunteer and to give charitably than peers from many other educational sectors, even after accounting for differences in income. In other words, graduates are living their values out through service, generosity, and civic contribution.

These findings align with a longstanding vision of Christian education as one that should move outward into love of neighbor and participation in the common good. Formation is not complete when students merely know or believe the right things. Christian schools seek to cultivate graduates who serve faithfully within their families, churches, professions, and communities.

Deepening Our Work

The CES findings should encourage Christian educators. They offer evidence that Christian schooling can have lasting influence in the lives of graduates across multiple domains of flourishing. But the research should also invite reflection. As schools, educators, parents, and supporters engage the latest CES findings, there is an opportunity not simply to celebrate what Christian education has done, but also to consider what it is still called to become. Data is most valuable when it leads to wise conversation and faithful action. The work of Christian education has always been larger than narrow measures of academic achievement alone; it is ultimately about helping students become people who seek truth, love God, serve others, and live faithfully.