Would you send an atheist/non religious student to a Catholic university?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does she feel compelled to want to attend a Catholic college/university ?

Where do you get that? OP said that she has three Catholic colleges on her list. That implies that she has some non-Catholic colleges on the list, too. There are Catholic colleges that people attend for reasons other than religion. Off the top of my head, I can think of Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, Boston College, Santa Clara, Marquette, and Fordham. Those are all very different schools with different cultures, offerings, student bodies, etc.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full disclosure: I was raised Catholic, but left the church after college and never had my kids baptized nor did we practice any religion.

My daughter is now a high school senior and has three Catholic colleges/universities on her college list. She is not religious and does not particularly believe in a god or any type of higher power as far as I know.

She has never even attended Catholic mass and of course she has never been involved in anything like CCD or catholic school, catholic catechism.

She is very socially liberal (pro choice, LGBTQ+ ally etc). I truly do not think a Catholic college would be a good choice for her, but I am unable to explain to her why. She doesn't believe me, basically. She has heard that the colleges on her list are "very liberal". I'm sure they are -- for Catholics. But, they are still Catholic schools!

Do atheists or non believers attend Catholic colleges?

Depends upon the school. Most of the Jesuit universities, yes. As long as there is no "Chapel Requirement". My own kid did a Jesuit university, and we are not catholic (husband is non-christian, not jewish and I was Protestant, but have not attended since HS), my kid had never opened a bible or been to church (other than weddings) before attending. Had to take Theology 101 and Philosophy 101 and that was it. For my kid Theo101 was more like a history class than anything else. Did tell them to inform their professor that they had literally NO religious background so that if they asked a "dumb question" it was genuine and not a joke. They learned a lot about religion with that course. Learned even more Holy Week freshman year when majority of friends actually attended mass, mark of the cross on forehead, etc.
Of their ~15-20 friends, only 1 attended mass frequently. So not much different than public HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not a good idea, even just for female health care reasons at this point.

Have you already done campus visits to the colleges OP?

Most of to their physician for health care.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely, why would I limit my child’s education?

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

I would not even send my catholic DD. I think there are better options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not even send my catholic DD. I think there are better options.

And there are better option of Catholics over some others.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course I would send to Catholic college

[Anonymous]

For an atheist, all Catholic colleges except ND would be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Depends upon the school. Most of the Jesuit universities, yes.

Agreed, for my daughter I’d be willing to consider a Jesuit school in an otherwise blue state. So, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, Loyola Chicago, Boston College, Gonzaga, University of San Francisco, Georgetown, Fordham….

[Anonymous]

Why are you going to make a decision for a soon to be adult based on what they'll be "exposed to." Surely she knows that some religions don't have female leaders, I disagree with that, but it's not going to harm her to be around people from that religion.

[Anonymous]

No, absolutely not. Why would you even consider it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course.

+1

OP m like you in regards to my lapse Catholicism and I sent my boys to a Catholic high school. It was not overbearing or preachy and most of the kids were fairly liberal, pro-choice, etc. They also were welcoming to LGBQT.

Jesuit universities are the most liberal in general.

[Anonymous]

If the location, price, and major were what we wanted, sure. I have confidence my kid is not going to be brainwashed by the dogma.