Brigham Young University–Idaho
Brigham Young University–Idaho is a private college in Rexburg, Idaho. Founded in 1888, the college is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Previously known as Ricks College, it transitioned from a junior college to a baccalaureate institution in 2001.
The college's focus is on undergraduate education. When it transitioned to a baccalaureate institution in 2001, BYU-Idaho offered about 50 bachelor's degrees and 19 associate degrees. As of 2024, the institution offers 102 bachelor's degrees, 22 associate degrees, and 6 other online degrees. It operates on a three-semester system known as "tracks." The college is broadly organized into 35 departments within six colleges.
Its parent organization, the Church Educational System, sponsors three sister schools—Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, and Ensign College—as well as the educational organizations Seminaries and Institutes of Religion and BYU-Pathway Worldwide. Clark Gilbert, the CES commissioner, said that each CES higher educational organization has a distinctive role and strategy, with BYU-Idaho being "the teacher".
The vast majority of students are Latter-day Saints. All students attending BYU–Idaho agree to follow an honor code that mandates behavior in line with the church's teachings. A significant percentage of students take an 18-month or 24-month hiatus from their studies to serve as missionaries. Tuition rates are generally lower than those at similar universities, due largely to funding provided by the church from tithing donations, various scholarships, financial aid, and on-campus student jobs.
History
Bannock and Fremont stake academies
On November 12, 1888, the LDS Church created the Bannock Stake Academy in Rexburg. The precursor to BYU–Idaho, like several other colleges and universities across the mountain west, was established as a "stake academy" first, as Mormon settlers colonized the eastern Snake River Plain in the 1880s. As a stake academy, its purpose was that of a modern secondary school as public schools had not yet been established. Jacob Spori served as its first principal and remained in that role for three years.As the population grew, it became necessary to divide the geographical area designated by the Church as the Bannock Stake, and the Fremont Stake was created; thus, in 1898, the school was renamed the Fremont Stake Academy.
During the 1901–1902 school year, there were 165 students enrolled. For boys, it taught seventh and eighth grade, a two-year high school, a two-year teaching school, and a missionary course, and for girls it taught a course in plain and needlework.
Ricks College
The LDS Church decided to combine the Fremont, Bingham, and Teton Stakes into one educational district, and the presidency of these stakes became the Board of Education of the LDS church school. Consequently, Bannock Stake Academy needed a new name, and, in 1903, the school was renamed as Ricks Academy in honor of Thomas Ricks. Ricks was the president of the LDS Church's Bannock Stake at the time it was founded and the chairman of the school's first Board of Education. By the early twentieth century, stake academies had largely been discontinued as public schools became more established in the western United States. Ricks Academy survived as it had added a year of college work to its curriculum and in 1917 was granted state certification, which allowed graduates to teach in the state of Idaho. At that point, it was known as Ricks Normal College with George S. Romney as its first president. In 1923, it was renamed Ricks College and functioned as a two-year junior college. It served as a junior college for most of the remainder of the twentieth century, except for a brief period from 1948 to 1956 when it operated as a four-year institution.In the 1920s and 1930s, the LDS Church began to close, or hand over, its academies to state governments because of better established public education and economic strains on the church. In 1931, a bill was introduced to the Idaho Senate to allow the Idaho Board of Education to accept Ricks College as a gift from the church in order to operate a junior college, but the bill did not pass. Bills handing over Ricks College to the state of Idaho were presented at three more legislative sessions,, but all were rejected. After almost a decade of facing closure, the church decided to keep Ricks College open. The college emerged with the support of local patrons and accreditation as a junior college by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in 1936.
The 1950s brought renewed consideration of closing the college and possibly moving it. However, church president David O. McKay decided against this course of action after a visit to the campus. During the 1976 Teton Dam flood, Ricks College was used as a center for disaster relief operations. By the late twentieth century, the college had become the largest private junior college in the country with over 7,500 students.
BYU–Idaho
On June 21, 2000, the LDS Church announced that Ricks College would become a four-year institution known as Brigham Young University–Idaho. BYU–Idaho became the third BYU campus, after the campuses in Provo and in Hawaii. The name change became official just over a year later on August 10, 2001. For the 2001–2002 school year, its athletics teams continued to compete under the name Ricks College, as the school decided to discontinue all of its sports teams after that season and it did not make financial sense to order all new uniforms with the new name for exactly one season.Among the associated changes were the elimination of the intercollegiate athletic program and the institution of a larger activities and intramural athletics program. The college also established a "three-track" system which admits students on a specific track of two semesters rather than the standard fall and winter semesters. Among other changes to campus facilities to accommodate the associated growth, the Hyrum Manwaring Student Center was renovated and enlarged and a new auditorium building, the BYU–Idaho Center, with seating for 15,000, was built. The buildings were dedicated in December 2010.
Campus
The campus sits on a hill overlooking the city of Rexburg and the Snake River Valley and includes nearly forty major buildings and residence halls on over. Off-campus facilities include a Livestock Center and the Henry's Fork Outdoor Learning Center near Rexburg. The Teton Lodge and Quickwater Lodge near Victor, Idaho, are utilized as student leadership and service centers.The main campus includes a planetarium, an arboretum, and geology and wildlife museums. The college also operates several athletic fields and facilities around campus which are used to support intramural programs and the expanded student activities program that was instituted when intercollegiate sports were discontinued in 2001. Facilities include a football and track stadium, tennis courts, general use fields and the John Hart Physical Education building, which seats 4,000 in its main gym and is used for athletic events and concerts. The building also includes a large fitness center, a pool, auxiliary gymnasiums, racquetball courts and equipment room, all of which are open to students, faculty and staff. On December 17, 2010, the BYU–Idaho Center was dedicated and opened to students. The building contains a 15,000-seat auditorium used for the weekly campus devotional, graduation ceremonies and concerts. The building also features a multi-purpose area with 10 basketball courts and can be subdivided by drop dividers as needed. The David O. McKay Library holds a collection of over 300,000 volumes with about 142,000 transactions processed by the library's circulation services annually.
In support of the fine arts and entertainment, the campus also includes the Ruth H. Barrus Concert Hall which houses the acclaimed Ruffatti organ, the third largest organ owned by the Church after those housed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and Conference Center, respectively. KBYI-FM, a 100,000 watt public radio station, also broadcasts to eastern Idaho and parts of Wyoming and Montana from the campus.
Organization
BYU-Idaho is led by Alvin "Trip" F. Meredith, a church general authority, who began serving as president in August 2023. Along with other members of CES, BYU–Idaho is under the direction of a board of trustees, which includes the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve, other general authorities, and presidents of church organizations. BYU–Idaho is organized into six colleges:Academics
BYU–Idaho offers several associate-degree programs in addition to its bachelor-degree programs. Across the six colleges, there are thirty-three departments, offering over eighty-seven bachelor-level programs and twenty associate-degree programs. BYU–Idaho's engineering programs rank in the top 75 nationally.The academic year is divided into three equal semesters of fourteen weeks and is known as the "three-track" system. It was instituted in 2001 as part of the transition from Ricks College to BYU-Idaho and the school's "Rethinking Education" campaign. When a student is admitted to BYU–Idaho, they are also assigned to a specific two-semester "track," based partly on preference, degree program, and availability to balance. Initially, the fall and winter semesters were slightly longer than the summer semester and had more class options. Beginning in January 2007, the school adjusted the academic calendar equalizing the amount of time available in each semester, lengthening the class periods, and opening class offerings in the spring to allow more students to attend in the spring semester. There is also a short, seven week summer session with accelerated class schedules. BYU-Idaho also offers "fast grad" which allows students to attend all semesters and finish their degree sooner. This is usually available as an option to students who have an upper sophomore or higher standing.
As of the Winter 2024 semester, at BYU-Idaho, there were 17,578 on-campus students, 4,673 campus students taking online classes or participating in internships off campus, and 19,312 online students served in partnership with BYU–Pathway Worldwide for a total of 41,563 students. Students come from all 50 states and more than 130 countries. According to fall 2016 enrollment numbers, 27% of BYU-Idaho campus students came from the state of Idaho, with the majority of students coming from five states: Idaho 27%, California 14%, Utah 10%, Washington 8%, and Arizona 4.5%. Thus, the student body at BYU–Idaho is notably homogeneous—not only due to its geographic representation but also due to ethnicity and religion. During the Fall 2016 semester, 83% of the students were white. Moreover, during the Fall 2016 semester, 99.7% of the students were members of the LDS Church.