Brigham Young University - Provo

Date: May 06 2004
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
If you are looking for a school that gives you all the text-book learning you need to be proficient at a particular subject, then yes, BYU is as good, or even better than many other schools. And of course it has good skiing nearby. BYU has excellent programs in history, classics, engineering, business, foreign languages, etc.

But frankly, you can get most of that knowledge from Barnes & Noble much cheaper. Knowledge transfer is not the primary business of a university.

If you are looking for an EDUCATION, that is, four eye-opening years of your life where you can try on new ideas to see how they fit, experiment with new thoughts and systems, develop and exercise critical analysis skills, and otherwise learn to

think outside the box

, BYU is perhaps the worst school in America.

Whatever class you are enrolled in, the professor will be required to

relate the subject material to gospel principles.

Each instructor is evaluated by the students at the end of each semester on how well or poorly s/he accomplished this. Tenuring decisions are based in part on the results of these students surveys.

If teachers are required to relate their subject matter to strictly defined gospel boundaries, then discussion, exploration, and thought will be stifled. It's inevitable. And regrettable. But that is the progam at BYU. It is to reinforce, not challenge, your preconceived notions of the world. BYU has been in trouble with accrediting boards more than once for its lack of academic freedom, but rather than address the problem, they glory in it, boast of it, and seem to enjoy the negative noteriety. In this respect, BYU is no better than some of the fly-by-night

Christian Universities

set up in garages and backyard storage sheds by pious preachers trying to counter the pervasive spread of that great evil—secularism.

And, as other reviewers have already mentioned, whether you are LDS or not, as a BYU student you will be required to sit through and pass at least 12 semester hours of the lamest, ooey-gooey, feel-good religion classes imaginable. And of course, you have to pay regular tuition, fees, and buy textbooks for these classes.

My kids will be heading off to college in the next couple of years, but I can't in good conscience allow them to go to BYU. It's so mind-numbingly dull that I will take out a second mortgage if I have to pay for a more expensive school, but I won't pay a dime for BYU. I want them to be educated, not indoctrinated.

Thanks for listening.