Although religion once played a central role in sociological inquiry, today it has fallen from prominence and now occupies a marginal space in the field. Sociologists of religion suggest that this neglect can be explained by the unusual irreligiosity of academia. However, some are hopeful that changes to graduate training and other institutional interventions can overcome this propensity and encourage more sociological engagement with religion, one of the most influential forces in contemporary society. Drawing on a new dataset of 473 sociology graduate students in the top-25 departments in the United States, we assess how personal religiosity and departmental support for religious inquiry predict sociological engagement in the field of religion. We show that sociology graduate students differ substantially from their age cohort in terms of religious affiliation and behaviors. Personal religiosity is a strong predictor of the decision to study religion and the overall perception of the relevance of religion in contemporary society. Coming from a department where religion is discussed, faculty pursue research on religion, and there are opportunities to specialize predicts the perception of religion’s relevance, but only for the least religious students. Our findings contribute to the understanding of sociological knowledge creation and how individual and institutional proclivities—together—shape what we deem important enough to study.