The Least Religious Schools In the U.S.

Princeton Review's annual rankings are out, including its list of the most and least religious universities in America. Which is actually really important information for potential students to have — Picking a school whose culture is heavily skewed away from your religious beliefs or lack thereof can make for a miserable four years.

Unsurprisingly, the most religious colleges are all schools that have an overt religious affiliation. This year's three most religious schools are Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; Thomas Aquinas University in Santa Paula, California; and Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Interestingly, though all three schools are Christian, they each represent different denominations: Brigham Young is Mormon, Thomas Aquinas is Catholic, and Wheaton is Evangelical Protestant.

The Princeton Review's ranking for most and least religious schools (at least among the 376 schools it includes in its analysis) is based solely on the way in which students answered the survey question "How religious are students at your school?" So it's not a perfect metric, but it certainly does speak to the culture on campuses. After all, students are to ones who best know what the vibe is like among the student body. Even if a school has a large percentage of students who identify as religious, that doesn't always translate into a highly religious campus culture overall.

And this is all good information to have while trying to figure out what kind of college experience you want. Both devoutly religious students and die hard atheists deserve to find a campus community that feels welcoming, and getting a sense of the religiosity of a campus can go a long way towards predicting how well you might fit in.

So whether you're planning where to apply or just want to see if your university made the list, here are the least religious schools in America:

1. Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)

2. Lewis and Clark (Portland, OR)

3. Pomona (Claremont, CA)

4. Reed College (Portland, OR)

5. Bard College (NY)

6. Bennington College (Bennington, VT)

7. Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY)

8. Skidmore College (Saratoga, NY)

9. Emerson College (Boston, MA)

10. Bard College (Great Barrington, MA)

And for more of the most religious schools in America, check out the full top 10 list:

1. Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)

2. Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula, CA)

3. Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)

4. Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, MI)

5. University of Dallas (Irving, TX)

6. Samford University (Birmingham, AL)

7. College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout, MO)

8. University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN)

9. Grove City College (Grove City, PA)

10. Baylor University (Waco, TX)