The Motivation and Impact of Religious Participation: A qualitative Study of Undergraduate Students at a Liberal Arts, Faith-Based Institution

Abstract This study explored the motivation and impact of religious participation among undergraduate students at a liberal arts, faith-based institution of higher education. By reviewing current literature around the topics of motivation, religious decline, and religious participation, this research bridges the gap between two historical and categorical institutions of purposeful discipleship—the church and the university, a gap unexplored in the field of Christian higher education. Six participants were interviewed in this qualitative, phenomenological study with particular details of the study outlined in terms of methodology, data collection, and data analysis. The study discovered three categorical motivations and three categorical impacts for religious participation.