Getting an education while saving thousands

Tuition at BYU‑I is a bargain compared to tuition at other private schools

• Brittani Lusk / Campus Asst. Editor
• posted: 20 Feb 2007
• scrollcampus@byui.edu

By attending BYU‑Idaho instead of the average private four-year school, students can save enough money each year to buy more than 200,000 packets of chicken-flavored Ramen, 10 plasma HDTV’s, 20,000 Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, or a sleek, silver Toyota Camry SE.

Tuition at BYU‑I costs about $2,890 a year. That is approximately 10 percent of what it costs to attend a typical private four-year school. Average tuition at a private four-year school is approximately $25,325 per year.

Scroll researched 30 other private four-year institutions across the country via their Web sites. BYU‑I is the least expensive school on the list. BYU-Hawaii and BYU in Provo, also owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are the two next least expensive schools. The next expensive school is Louisiana College, in Pineville, La. It costs $9,750.

Scroll reserached only private schools because public schools can receive government funds, which affects tuition.

Students come to BYU‑I for a variety of reasons. Melissa Coates, a sophomore from Tremonton, Utah, came to be close to family. Now that she’s here she likes the environment.

It’s nice to feel the spirit on campus, Coates said.

She doesn’t mind the cost either. She said she gets a good deal on a good education.

LDS universities are inexpensive because the Church subsidizes the cost of education through tithing funds. Russ Benedict, director of financial services at BYU‑I, said the Church also funds the building of new facilities. At other schools the cost of a new building is eventually passed on to students.

Benedict said that means the amount of tuition that is subsidized by the Church varies from year to year, but is always well over 50 percent.

The Church universities are a bargain. Most other universities acquire buildings and other facilities with debt and then [repay] the debt with operating revenues—primarily tuition revenue. Most facilities at BYU‑I are paid for by the Church, so there is no debt to repay. This contributes to lower tuition, Benedict said.

Some students come to BYU‑I because they want to come to a Church school, because they like the environment or because it’s close to home. Most realize what a bargain they’re getting when they try to transfer.

Kristi Soelberg, a sophomore from Payette, Idaho, is trying to transfer to a dental hygiene program. She said that as she looks at other schools she sees BYU‑I as a good deal more and more.

I think it’s wonderful, she said. I’m really appreciating the schooling that I’ve been having here at BYU‑Idaho.

Another key difference between LDS schools and other private universities is student fees. Many schools require several hundred dollars every semester as an activity fee.

BYU‑I has a substantial activities program and does not require an mandatory activity fee.

Most activity costs are covered by student tuition along with a significant subsidy from the Church using tithing funds. Some of the more expensive programs do charge a fee such as full-contact football, Benedict said. At BYU‑Idaho additional fees are charged only when specific additional costs are incurred as a result of a course or activity, Benedict said.

Religious leaders have said that education should be important to members of the Church. In General Conference of Oct. 2006, President Gordon B. Hinckley told both women and men to get as much education as possible.

He told the Relief Society sisters that Relief Society stood for many things including education.

It is the obligation of every woman of this Church to get all the education she can. It will enlarge her life and increase her opportunities, Hinckley said.

President Hinckley told the young men that education will strengthen their ability to serve.

The Lord has mandated that this people get all the education they can, President Hinckley said. Your education will strengthen your service in the Church. A study was made some years ago that indicated the higher the education, the greater the faith and participation in religious activity, Hinckley said.