The Herald’s Spring 2026 poll found that nearly 50% of undergraduate students identified as agnostic, atheist or not religious, and over a fourth of respondents identified as Christian — the most popular response among students.
Brown students and faculty were generally unsurprised by the poll’s results.
“National data from sources like Pew Research Center show a steady rise in Americans — especially younger adults — who identify as religiously unaffiliated. In that sense, Brown’s numbers reflect a broader generational trend,” Professor of Humanities and Religious Studies Mark Cladis wrote in an email to The Herald.
A 2023-2024 Pew Research Center Study found that 44% of 18 to 29-year-olds are religiously unaffiliated. A 2026 study found that 37% of religiously unaffiliated individuals in the United States have obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher.
“Brown is not a formally religious institution,” Cladis wrote. “That signals a broadly open intellectual environment where students with a range of commitments — religious and secular — can feel at home.”
In The Herald’s Spring 2026 poll, 8.1% of respondents described themselves as Jewish, 4.7% as Hindu and 2.9% as Buddhist. An additional 4.5% identified as spiritual, and another 2.8% with Islam.
Esther Liu ’27 said she believes that “receiving higher education means that you do question a lot of religious beliefs.”
“So it is probably normal to stray away from religion,” she added.
Liu, who participates in Christian fellowships, said that many of the individuals she interacts with on campus are “very engaged in religious activities.”
“I also know many people who have found religious beliefs during their time in college” because the liberal nature of Brown means “religion is so easily talked about,” she added.
Mitchell Hanegan ’29 was also not shocked by the statistic.
“I feel like the religious communities of Brown that I’ve seen are pretty robust,” said Hanegan, who identifies as agnostic. He believes that Brown has a “pretty welcoming campus overall for religion,” even though many students may not believe religion is for them.
But the attitudes students have toward religion at Brown are very different from those in Hanegan’s rural hometown. “Personally, I’m happy to be in a slightly more secular environment, because it conforms better to my own views. But I don’t really care if people want to do whatever they like,” he said.
For Zara Mirza ’29, Brown is a “very liberal campus,” and she “associates liberals with atheists,” so she is “not that surprised” by the data point.
The Herald’s Spring 2026 poll found that 74.3% of students identify as somewhat or very liberal or progressive. Additionally, the Pew Research Center found that 78% of atheists identify as Democrats or aligned with the Democratic Party.
Mirza, who identifies as Muslim, said that “there’s not really anything (she does) on campus to connect to (her) Muslim identity.” Rather, she practices Islam “at home, or in a more private setting.”
Chloe Lyons ’29, who identifies as Christian, said that her practice of religion is “more just internal,” adding that she practices Christianity by “more reflecting in on (herself) instead of going to a church.”
“I think a lot more people growing up, or at least in my high school, they were more passively religious, whereas at Brown, people are a lot more thoughtful in their practices,” said Cecilia Bartin ’27, who identifies as Catholic.
Bartin said that religious people she knows at Brown “are very conscious in why they’re religious and what they get out of religion.” She noted that she has observed a “spectrum of how often they practice and how closely they observe their religion.”
For Molly Ibrahim ’27, who is Coptic Orthodox, “having time away from home actually strengthened my faith.”
“When you get to college, you have a lot of time away from home and family, and you have time to think about the practices that you’ve been following maybe your entire life,” Ibrahim said.
Renee Kim ’28, who is religiously unaffiliated, said she was unsurprised by the poll’s results.
“Some of my friends who did used to go to church or a specific religious space with their family, now coming to college, find that they don’t need to anymore,” Kim said. “I think with college, you get a lot more freedom in choosing what you get to believe. And in high school, you might be more bound to what your family thinks.”
“Brown is a very religiously tolerant place, where, no matter your religion, it doesn’t really affect anything,” Kim added.
Nate Barkow is a senior staff writer for the Youth and Education beat and a co-chief of The Herald's social media team. He is from New York City and plans on concentrating in International and Public Affairs and Education Studies. In his free time, he loves trying new restaurants and watching Survivor.
