Methodist, Presbyterian-linked institutions top list
More than a hundred U.S. Christian colleges and universities reportedly have ties to Planned Parenthood or other services linked to the abortion industry, with a new report finding that Christian schools have increased their support of Planned Parenthood by near 20% since 2022.
The findings are part of the 2025 Christian Schools Project from Students for Life of America’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, which released a report surveying 725 colleges and universities “affiliated with Christ-centered denominations that publicly claim a historical Christian foundation.” The survey excluded denominations that openly support abortion, such as Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ, Quaker and Moravian.
The survey found that 114 institutions, or more than one in seven Christian schools, had some relationship with the abortion industry in general or the nation’s largest abortion vendor, Planned Parenthood, specifically. Researchers say support for Planned Parenthood at Christian colleges has increased by 19.82% since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ruled the U.S. Constitution doesn’t contain a right to abortion.
“For parents, alumni, donors, and constituents of faith-based campus life and communities, an expectation that colleges and universities bearing the name ‘Christian’ uphold Christian values is central to their investment in those institutions,” the report states. “Most significant is the trust given to schools for instructing the next generation of leaders in the community. If committed constituents of a school cannot even depend on those bearing the name of Christ to stand for life, how can they expect the schools to shape future generations according to Scripture?”
As part of the survey, researchers reviewed school websites for “infraction” categories such as promoting internships at abortion providers, listing Planned Parenthood as a health or pregnancy resource, advertising related events or volunteer opportunities, using abortion industry materials in classes, or expressing direct support for abortion.
Infractions were cited across just over half of all denominations surveyed, or 12 out of 22, with Methodist-affiliated schools accounting for the largest share — nearly 37% — of total infractions. Catholic institutions, meanwhile, represented just under 25% of infractions, despite the Catholic Church’s longstanding teaching against abortion.
The report — which graded schools on a scale from A-plus for no infractions along with active promotion of local pregnancy centers to F for those with four or more infractions — gave failing grades to 47 schools, including American University in Washington, D.C., which the report ranked with the most infractions (34) in 2025.
Billed as a “student-centered research institution” in the heart of the nation’s capital, American University is a Methodist-affiliated institution chartered by Congress in 1893. According to the Christian Schools Project, American University supports Youth Empowerment and Reproductive Health in New Orleans, and the Louisiana Spring Alternative Break program, which includes working with Planned Parenthood.
Duke University in North Carolina, also affiliated with Methodism, recorded 27 infractions, while Methodist university Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and PC(USA)-affiliated Macalester College in Minnesota both recorded 23 infractions. Rhodes College in Tennessee, also affiliated with PC(USA), recorded 20 infractions.
Hope College in Michigan of the Reformed Church in America had 14 infractions, including having an abortion counselor listed as a possible career for sociology majors.
The report also found that the number of schools that received an A-plus grade has increased by nearly 14% since 2024. Among the 25 new A-plus honorees were Benedictine College (Kansas), Liberty University (Virginia) and University of Mary (North Dakota), which offer resources like on-campus housing for pregnant students or partnerships with organizations such as pregnancy resource center Standing With You.
Researchers say at the time of the report’s publication, as many as 50 ties between Christian academic institutions and Planned Parenthood were cut between 2024 and 2025 “thanks to interventions and awareness facilitated by the Christian Schools Project.”
A few of those ties, the report said, included Abilene Christian University in Texas, which removed Planned Parenthood as an internship opportunity; Alverno College in Wisconsin, which removed Planned Parenthood as an “off-campus resource,” and DePaul University in Illinois, which stopped a “BDSM sex ed” event hosted by a Planned Parenthood-affiliated group.
For methodology and other details about the 2025 Christian Schools Project, click here.
