College students studying to become teachers are more likely to make church part of their Sunday activities in the future.

The National Bureau of Economic Research released a University of Michigan study this week that explores the interplay among religiosity, college attendance and major.

Researchers found those who choose education as a major are likely to b come more religious. Students who study the social sciences and humanities become less religious. Meanwhile, biology and physical science majors are likely to remain about as religious as when they began their studies.

The study was funded by the John Templeton Foundation and based on data collected by the Monitoring the Future study from the U-M Institute for Social Research.

U-M economist Miles Kimball, co-author of the story, and colleagues Colter Mitchell, Arland Thornton and Linda Young analyzed data collected from 26,200 individuals who had graduated from high school between 1976 and 1996. Study participants were quizzed on how often they attended religious services, the importance of religion in their lives. They were also asked about the good that religious organizations do for the country.