BYU Idaho: Not Worth It
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Education
I’ve spent the last many weeks looking at colleges to transfer to next Fall seeing as staying here in Maine is driving me crazy and I feel that SMCC really has given me all that it can. Being a member of the Mormon church, naturally some of the options I can look at are BYU in Provo, Utah, BYU Idaho in Rexburg, and BYU Hawaii in Laie. And I did look at all of them, I’ve been to all of there campuses, and they all at face value seem like good schools.
But, then I did some digging. Unfortunately, my top choice for top reasons was BYU Hawaii, but unfortunately, they don’t have a Film or a Communications program, which leaves Provo and Idaho. Provo is a top school, well respected as evidenced by this page on their web site bragging about how well respected they are. Idaho, however, is not well respected, no one even knows where it is except for the 14,000 people who attend there.
And for good reason, you see, they may have the name “Brigham Young University” in their title, but they are no where near the BYU in Provo. In fact, up until 2001, it was called Ricks College and they were just a small and simple junior college. Now, they are bigger and better, building more buildings and offering more programs. All in the effort to become a “Good Mormon Factory.” Read their “Vision Statement” and tell me I’m not wrong:
At BYU–Idaho we foster faith-building and life-changing learning. Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, our commitment to the restored gospel, and our effort to build a Zion learning community motivate us to learn and teach by study and by faith. From the BYU Idaho Learning Model
That doesn’t sound like a University, it sounds like a cult. Build a Zion learning community? What the heck does that even mean? I think that the case for Idaho is lost right there in the first sentence of this “Vision Statement” when they put “faith-building” ahead of “life-changing learning.” I don’t go to a school to build faith, I go to a school to learn and to grow. I go to church to build faith. Which is why I applied to BYU in Provo. Because, unlike Idaho, they are more focused on learning as evidenced by this on their web site:
Brigham Young University seeks to develop students of faith, intellect and character who have the skills and the desire to continue learning and to serve others throughout their lives.
No rubbish about building faith or learning in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They do, however, go on to say that “the university provides an outstanding education in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Sounds perfectly reasonable, especially when you compare it to the Mission Statement of Notre Dame, a Catholic University:
This statement speaks of the University of Notre Dame as a place of teaching and research, of scholarship and publication, of service and community. These components flow from three characteristics of Roman Catholicism that image Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Spirit. From the section “Context”
Now, I should just say that I’m not talking about religion here, I’m talking about Education. I should also say that I’m not trying to bash my church, I’m just trying to bash BYU Idaho. But, honestly, they deserve it. How could anyone take a degree from BYU Idaho seriously if that is what their vision is?
