A growing number of American young adults do not identify with any religion, according to a report released Tuesday.

In the U.S., 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds identify as non-believers, and of all adults, 15 percent don’t believe in any religion, according to the report from Trinity College.

Still, a majority of Americans do identify as religious, and many of those surveyed who described themselves as “not religious” do believe in some sort of higher power, the study said.

Linell Cady, an ASU professor of religious studies, said she has noticed a recent trend of people leaving their religions.

“The American religious landscape is changing increasingly,” Cady said. “People are now selecting religions from among a cafeteria-style list of options that fit their interest.”

The American Religious Identification Survey found the results by gauging the responses of 54,000 adults around the country.

During the 1990s, 1.3 million adults lost interest in religion each year. Since 2001, the amount of people leaving their faiths halved to 660,000 a year, according to the study.

While in college, Cady said students are exposed to more religions to choose from.

“Oftentimes when people go to college, they go through an experimentation experience and get exposed to diversity and alternatives from which they form their own religion,” she said.

The study also found that 21 percent of the nation’s political independents are non-believers, as are 16 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of Republicans.

“The numbers reflect the extension in which these political parties stand on several issues in society,” Cady said.

About 24 percent of non-believers or atheists are former Catholics, according to the study.

James Ryan Ponce, a history and philosophy senior, said he underwent a period when he left the Catholic Church to become an atheist, though he later returned.

“The reason that I walked away [from the Catholic religion] was because I had never taken the steps necessary to become part of the community and figure out what they believe in and why they believe it,” Ponce said.

Ponce said he started researching other religions that helped him change his mind about the Catholic Church.

“I looked into Islam, Hinduism and even old Pagan religions but none of it made sense to me,” Ponce said. “The only thing that made sense to me was the free society and the theory of evolution, but that got to a point where I felt alone and separated.”

The study also found that people who do not identify with a religion are more likely to believe in human evolution than the general public.

When Ponce finally decided to research Catholicism again, he found a connection.

“It really got me back on track,” Ponce said. “I went from not caring about school to wanting to get more involved with the Catholic community and community at large.”

Lourdes Alonso, the director of campus ministry at the All Saints Catholic Newman Center, said she had heard of people leaving their religions and becoming more spiritual.

“I usually hear about people who become spiritual for a couple years but then search for a more community-based religion like the Catholic Church,” Alonso said.

Like many religious groups on campus, Alonso said the Newman Center provides a home for students who can develop their faith and grow to become passionate religious leaders and answer important questions.

“In the college life, religion helps students to ask a lot of questions that are forming in the classroom about life in general,” Alonso said.

Reach the reporter at griselda.nevarez@asu.edu.