Ryan Burge is a data analyst who synthesizes information about religion and politics in the United States. He publishes his findings and observations regularly on Substack. Last week, he wrote an article titled "How Weird is The Religious Composition of Harvard's Student Body?" In it, he examines the results of a poll Harvard conducted of this year's freshman class.

According to the poll, nearly half -- more than 46% -- of Harvard's freshman class identifies as "atheist" or "agnostic." (An even higher number -- nearly 65% -- describe themselves as "progressive" or "very progressive.") Burge explains how much of an "outlier" Harvard's student body is compared to the general U.S. population, in which only 12% self-identify as either atheist or agnostic.

But Burge also points out how different Harvard's student body is from other college students. He references a survey of 55,000 college students at more than 250 universities conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. According to the FIRE survey, only 21% of this year's freshmen consider themselves atheist or agnostic; Harvard's number is more than twice that.

Even more striking to Burge was how few Harvard freshmen are Protestant Christians. A 2022 Pew Research poll showed 43% of all Americans consider themselves Protestants. The FIRE survey of college students shows that a full 30% identify as Protestants.

At Harvard -- once perhaps the premier university founded by Protestants,........

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