These findings aren’t exactly surprising — but they might fuel some debate on just what makes a Catholic college “Catholic”:

A new study finds Catholic students at Catholic colleges are less likely than Catholics attending public colleges to move away from the church’s teachings on a variety of issues.

However, on the issue of same-sex marriage in particular, newly released research from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate found that many Catholic students at Catholic and public colleges disagree with church teaching.

CARA, which is based at Georgetown University, presented the results of its “Catholicism on Campus” study Jan. 31, during the annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, held in Washington.

The CARA report relied on national surveys of the attitudes of 14,527 students at 148 U.S. colleges and universities, conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The data was collected from students when they were freshmen in 2004 and again when they were juniors in 2007.

“We measure whether students, regardless of their incoming attitudes and behavior, move closer, stay the same, or move further away from the church while in college,” the study said.

The CNS link has more details.