Official numbers: Enrollment down at BYU Idaho
There are fewer students at Brigham Young University-Idaho this fall than there were last year.
In October 2012, the LDS Church lowered the missionary age for both men and women. Since then, the university has predicted a drop in numbers.
That hypothesis came true with about 15,584 students enrolled this fall. That’s 678 students less than last fall semester, or a 4.2 percent decrease.
Despite the lower number of students on-campus, BYU Idaho is actually still growing.
More students than ever are taking online classes. Nearly 12,000 students are enrolled online this fall, compared to less than 6,900 last year.
Marc Stevens from university relations expects to see the on campus numbers level out.
“With the age change, we are seeing an impact. We expect that impact to last until about the middle of 2014. We have a little bit of a dip for now, but as missionaries return and they come back to school, we will start to see it even back out,” said Stevens.
BYU Idaho runs on trimesters, which means the actual number of students taught on campus in a given calendar year is closer to 28,000.
