I'm glad to see someone proposing this type of study. But the idea that non-theism is not already being studied is probably just a way to make their work sound sexy and draw in grant money. By studying theism, we're studying atheism as well -- by what other standard could we be comparing the believers? Really, they're just re framing the same question that lots of work is already addressing. Re framing of scientific hypotheses can, of course, be a good productive thing, but it seems a stretch to say they're venturing into completely new territory.

It also seems like they dance around the obvious hypothesis. Education is mostly based on learning "facts", but someone who studies these "facts" may come to realize a trend in which positive claims require evidence in order to be considered facts. Anyone who wishes to ignore this trend can keep their dearly held beliefs and keep on learning. But at the same time, education should make people more prone to this realization about "facts". Once you're in a environment where calling something a fact requires empirical observation, you might as well apply the same standard to all of your beliefs. This readily and easily explains the observations made in the article about the relationship between education and non faith. It also fits the claims that atheists frequently make about their own beliefs (ie "there's simply no reason to believe, so I don't").