Was Rick Santorum Really Wrong to Claim That College Makes Young People Less Religious?

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum found himself in the headlines numerous times over the weekend. On Saturday, he called President Barack Obama a snob for wanting every American to go to college. Then, on Sunday, he inspired debate about faith and religion in America when he said that the separation of church and state shouldn’t be “absolute” and that higher education leads individuals to become less religious.

(Related: Santorum: Separation of Church and State Not ‘Absolute’)

“President Obama said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob!” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Michigan. “There are good, decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to the test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor trying to indoctrinate them.”

While these comments were questioned by individuals who saw the candidate’s words as an attempt to devalue education, Santorum wasn’t done sharing his opinions about higher education. On ABC’s “This Week,” on Sunday, he commented about college and its negative impact on young people who count themselves among the religious.

Santorum told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “62 percent of kids who enter college with some sort of faith commitment leave without it.” Here’s the full dialogue, for context:

STEPHANOPOULOS:  All [Obama] said was he wants, quote, “every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.”  In your interview with Glenn Beck this week, you seemed to go further.  You said I understand why Barack Obama wants to send every kid to college, because they are indoctrination mills.  What did that mean?

SANTORUM:  Well, of course.  I mean, you look at the colleges and universities, George.  This is not – this is not something that’s new for most Americans, is how liberal our colleges and universities are and how many children in fact are – look, I’ve gone through it.  I went through it at Penn State.  You talk to most kids who go to college who are conservatives, and you are singled out, you are ridiculed, you are – I can tell you personally, I know that, you know, we – I went through a process where I was docked for my conservative views.  This is sort of a regular routine (ph).  You know the statistic that at least I was familiar with from a few years ago — I don’t know if it still holds true but I suspect it may even be worse – that 62 percent of kids who enter college with some sort of faith commitment leave without it.

Watch the exchange (occurs around 11:30):