I have some relatives who grew up in conservative evangelical Christian households. One uncle insisted that his children follow their moral compass and go to schools that are welcoming of evangelical Christians and would not force feed things like evolution, liberal theology or abortion rights. So this uncle’s children ended up at schools like Purdue, Baylor and RIT and studied business, applied sciences or engineering so they could generally avoid the political debate at college. Cocooned from skeptics, they are incurious young people who really never have engaged in the world around them.
Uncle No. 2, equally conservative and evangelical, wanted his children to get the best education they could get, so his children went to Macalester, Swarthmore, and Williams despite their liberal leanings. When I saw them recently at a family reunion over the holidays, I would say, first, that they are all still conservative and Christian as ever. And they confirmed that they are pretty out-numbered at their schools. But interestingly, they were much more in love with their schools (the one at Swat wants to work for the college after he graduates) than their big University cousins, and they were very interesting, engaged people–willing to debate and argue for their positions. Their educations have firmed up and made them more confident in their beliefs rather than eroded them.