The University Retention Gap — Adventist vs Secular University Graduates

Executive summary

The Adventist Church operates 115+ tertiary institutions globally, representing an enormous financial and institutional investment. The foundational question — do graduates of these institutions remain Adventist at higher rates than peers who attended secular universities? — has limited but compelling data. The 10-year Youth Retention Study found **67% retention for Adventist-school-educated members vs 19% for non-Adventist-educated**. But this conflates K-12 and university education, and the un...