Ricks College will change from a two-year junior college to a four-year institution, President Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced Wednesday.
An initiative directed by the Board of Trustees of Ricks College and the First Presidency of the Church has established that Ricks College will be phased into a four-year school under the new name of Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Admission to the school is not anticipated to change. “We don’t want this place to become so exclusive that you have to have a 3.9 (GPA) and a 34 (ACT) to get in,” President David A. Bednar, president of Ricks College, said. The average GPA for Ricks students is 3.4.
The current student-teacher ratio of 25 to 1 is expected to be maintained, President Bednar said.
BYU-Idaho will emphasize undergraduate academics; in order to be successful, some aspects of Ricks will have to be phased out. For example, BYU-Idaho will not have an athletic program. "It's too much money. It's a great amount of time and energy," President Hinckley said.
There will be an athletic program in the coming fall and winter semesters. Scholarships already awarded will be honored, President Bednar said.
The change was not made to accommodate students not admitted to BYU-Provo. "This is not a resource-based decision. This is an opportunity-based decision," President Bednar said.
The decision came as a surprise to everyone. Ricks College administrators did not even suggest the idea, President Bednar said. He would have been less surprised, he said, had the school been closed.
Ricks College officials were informed of the decision late Tuesday afternoon.
Despite the new name, the school will be able to maintain autonomy from BYU-Provo, President Hinckley said.
The school will remain Ricks College for the time being. The change will be gradual, President Hinckley said.
The emphasis on students and teaching will not be altered, Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve said. Ricks’ teachers are not ranked as professors; rather, all are teachers. "Everyone's a teacher, and a good one, at Ricks College," Elder Eyring said.
President Hinckley feels the campus has ample facilities to accommodate a four-year program. Current renovations and construction have left the campus renewed, he said. "It is a beautiful campus with wonderful facilities." New building construction, other than the rebuilding of the Jacob Spori Building, has not been discussed.
This academic year, Ricks started functioning on new semester tracks in order to admit more students. This expanded year-round operating basis will continue at the four-year school. New Internet classes will also increase the number of students Ricks can accommodate.
Many details for the change are still being determined. "This is not announcing a finished project," President Bednar said. Members of the President's Council held a question-and-answer session Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Taylor Chapel to discuss those specifics now available.
President Bednar urged students to ignore rumors concerning the change. "Please don't speculate on what all this means," he said. The President's Council will tell what they know when they are able, he said.
The announcement came at the end of a 40-minute interview President Hinckley had with religion editors in Salt Lake City at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Students, faculty, and community members assembled in the Hart Gymnasium heard the interview and announced live through a direct audio broadcast.
Morning classes were canceled. Faculty members received phone calls and emails Tuesday night, informing them of the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was not revealed in these communications.
Students learned of the meeting primarily through word of mouth through their wards or housing complexes.