Thousands of students head back to BYU-Idaho for winter semester
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REXBURG — It’s officially move-in week for Brigham Young University-Idaho students attending school this winter semester.
The roads and superstores are packed as students trickle in from all corners of the country to start school on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Nikki Balden, a junior majoring in early childhood special education, said she hasn’t been shopping yet but it’s been a rush as students get ready.
“Everyone and their mom will be there, I’m sure,” Balden said.
BYU-Idaho Media Relations Manager Brett Crandall says there isn’t much change in enrollment for Winter semester 2016 compared to the Fall 2015, which recently ended.
“Last semester we had over 17,000 students and expect to see that (amount) come to campus this week,” Crandall said.
Last winter total enrollment for BYU-Idaho was 16,738.
Steven Thomas, Pathway advising coordinator, said the numbers for enrolled Pathway students in Winter 2016 is about 11,390. Pathway is an online program BYU-Idaho offers for students world-wide. Through Pathway students can earn transferable college credit to enroll into BYU-Idaho or other universities. Winter 2016 enrollment in the Pathway program increased 14 percent from last year which was around 10,000.
The reason for the decrease is because typically the largest enrollment period is the fall semester. Also, Thomas said, “There are students who are completing Pathway in the fall semester so they can matriculate to BYU-Idaho’s online program.”
The Pathway program and BYU-Idaho online education program are separate.
The number of students taking online classes in- and out-of-state during Winter 2015 was 7,980. In Fall 2015, those numbers were higher, sitting around 10,200 students. An official projection for Winter 2016 enrollment hasn’t been released, but those numbers are usually higher than the previous year.
Overall, students seem to be anxious to get back to life at BYU-Idaho.
“I’m excited to come back to school, because I love the atmosphere at BYU-Idaho. I actually love the winter! I don’t mind it, and it’ll be fun,” Balden said.
Photos courtesy BYU-Idaho.
