Church Universities
Since their beginnings in the 1800s, universities sponsored by the Church have sought to provide higher education that combines study and faith in Jesus Christ. Latter-day Saints first launched a university in Nauvoo, Illinois, in the 1840s. The University of the City of Nauvoo, however, was unable to establish a dedicated facility before many Latter-day Saints departed for the North American West in 1846. Four years later, Latter-day Saints launched the University of Deseret in Salt Lake City, but financial troubles impeded regular classes until 1869, when the completion of the transcontinental railroad brought new commerce that enlarged the local economy. In 1875, the Provo branch of the University of Deseret was converted into Brigham Young Academy, which offered a program of primary, secondary, and postsecondary classes that combined religious and secular study. Educators and Church leaders organized the General Church Board of Education in 1888 and soon converted Brigham Young Academy into Brigham Young University (BYU). The University of Deseret was turned into a public school and renamed the University of Utah in 1892.
The original Brigham Young Academy building in Provo, Utah, between 1892 and 1901.
Over the following decades, the Church opened several other academies, colleges, and universities in Latter-day Saint settlements throughout northern Mexico, the western United States, and southern Canada. Later, most of these were retired or transferred to separate stewardship, and only BYU, Latter-day Saints University in Salt Lake City, and Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, remained. At the same time, Church leaders continued to promote weekday gospel instruction for secondary and postsecondary students through seminary and institute programs. By the mid-20th century, the Church consolidated its many educational efforts under a centralized administration known as the Church Educational System (CES).
Following World War II, CES administrators expanded college programs, particularly at BYU, to accommodate growing Church membership. Over the next several decades, BYU enrollment steadily grew, eventually reaching 35,000, and BYU became one of the largest private religious universities in the United States. In the public eye, much of BYU’s expansion was seen in its competitive sports programs. Additionally, the development of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and the Marriott School of Business, along with other graduate programs and an emphasis on faculty research, demonstrated BYU’s growth in academic and professional fields. BYU’s steady record of placing graduates into strong careers and setting comparatively low tuition rates sustained its reputation as a premier undergraduate institution.
CES administrators also expanded Latter-day Saints University in Salt Lake City. The school began as the Salt Lake Stake Academy in the late 1880s. Although leaders initially envisioned it as the Church’s flagship school, by the early 20th century they began shifting resources to BYU. In the 1920s, only the business college remained, and Latter-day Saints University was renamed Latter-day Saints College then, in 1931, LDS Business College. The school moved several times before relocating to a campus in downtown Salt Lake City in 2006. It was renamed Ensign College in 2020 and began offering four-year degrees in 2021.
Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho—initially called Bannock Stake Academy but later renamed to honor Thomas Ricks, who had worked toward starting a school in the area—focused on teacher training in its early decades. Despite offering bachelor’s degrees as early as 1950, Ricks College remained primarily a two-year college until 2001, when Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced it would expand into a four-year curriculum and be renamed Brigham Young University–Idaho.
In the Pacific Islands, the Church College of Hawaii grew after its dedication in 1958. When Church President David O. McKay had toured the north shore of O‘ahu decades earlier and visited its thriving community of Latter-day Saints, he envisioned an expanded college there that could serve primarily Church members from the Pacific Rim. The school was accredited as a four-year college in 1961, was renamed Brigham Young University–Hawaii in 1974, and was made into an independent university under CES administration in 2003.
Service missionaries helping to finish the construction of the Church College of Hawaii in 1958.
Since the mid-20th century, administrators at BYU invested in other avenues of growth beyond the United States. Travel study programs from the 1950s grew into several international study abroad institutions, particularly renowned in Salzburg, London, and Mexico City. The study abroad program in Jerusalem, started in 1968 gained great popularity with students and by the late 1970s had grown such that leaders realized a need for larger facilities. The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, built on the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the Old City, was dedicated in 1989.
The BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Jerusalem, Israel.
CES administrators also looked to broaden the BYU system of academic and professional training toward a global reach. Between 2009 and 2017, educators at CES, BYU–Idaho, and BYU developed an online program for higher education called BYU–Pathway Worldwide. In 2020, the program served over 50,000 Latter-day Saint students in more than 150 countries.
Related Topics: School of the Prophets, Church Academies, Seminaries and Institutes, Brigham Young