Culture

Religion

Like the rest of the United States, the Midwest is predominantly Christian.^[88]
The majority of Midwesterners are Protestants, with rates from 48 percent in Illinois to 63 percent in Iowa.^[89] However, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest single denomination, varying between 18 percent and 34 percent of the state populations.^[90][91] Lutherans are prevalent in the Upper Midwest, especially in Minnesota and the Dakotas with their large Scandinavian and German populations.^{[citation needed]} Southern Baptists compose about 15 percent of Missouri's population,^[92] but much smaller percentages in other Midwestern states.
Judaism is practiced by 2.5^{[citation needed]} percent and Islam^{[citation needed]} is practiced by 1 percent or less of the population, with higher concentrations in major urban areas. People with no religious affiliation make up 13–16 percent of the Midwest's population. Surveys^[when?] show 54 percent of Midwesterners regularly attend church.^[93]

Education

Many Midwestern universities, both public and private, are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an international organization of leading public and private research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Of the 62 members from the U.S. and Canada, 16 are located in the Midwest including private schools Case Western Reserve University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and Washington University in St. Louis. Member public institutions of the AAU include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University Bloomington, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Missouri, Ohio State University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[94]
Other notable major research-intensive public universities include the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University, and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.^{[citation needed]}
Numerous state university systems have established regional campuses statewide. The numerous state teachers colleges were upgraded into state universities after 1945.^[95]
Other notable private institutions include the University of Notre Dame, John Carroll University, Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University, Creighton University, Drake University, and Marquette University. Local boosters, usually with a church affiliation, created numerous colleges in the mid-19th century.^[96] In terms of national rankings, the most prominent today include Carleton College, Denison University, DePauw University, Earlham College, Grinnell College, Kalamazoo College, Kenyon College, Knox College, Macalester College, Lawrence University, Oberlin College, Wheaton College, and The College of Wooster.^[97]