Many inspired men have expressed their vision of high-quality, affordable education for students around the world
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is revolutionizing higher education around the world. Students no longer have to move to a Church Education System (CES) university to get the affordable, gospel-based education they want. Because of online programs like PathwayConnect, the Church can now take the education to the student.
This growth in education within the Church is no surprise. For more than one-hundred years, many inspired men have expressed their vision of education in the Church in providing high-quality, affordable education to individuals around the world.
“The seeds we’re planting today will grow and become mighty oaks and their branches will run all over the earth.”
JACOB SPORI | Bannock Stake Academy, 1888
When Jacob Spori said these words in 1888, he was the principal of Bannock Stake Academy — the institution which would later become Ricks College, and eventually BYU-Idaho. Over the years, BYU-Idaho has strived to create affordable higher education opportunities for members of the Church around the world, just as Jacob Spori foresaw.
...their branches will run all over the earth.
When BYU-Idaho launched the PathwayConnect program in 2009, Spori’s words took on a more literal sense. Now, following the
"We must also find ways for this college to serve young people whose needs are shaped by a great variety of cultures and situations, and who may not be able to come to this campus. We will find direct ways to move the blessing of education ... from this campus out into the lives of men and women everywhere.”
PRESIDENT HENRY B. EYRING | Ricks College Inaugural Response, December 1971
In a time before computers, internet, or cell phones, it would have been difficult to imagine a single university reaching out to people around the world, but that was President Eyring’s vision as president of Ricks College in 1971.
... move the blessing of education ... out into the lives of men and women everywhere.
40 years later, this vision was fulfilled when PathwayConnect opened its first international locations in Ghana and Mexico. Since that day, PathwayConnect has helped more than 60,000 students in more than 70 countries around the world by taking higher education to the four corners of the earth.
"It will be necessary for us ... to serve ever better the thousands of students we have on campus while simultaneously reaching out to bless the lives of tens of thousands of young Latter-day Saints throughout the world... We must learn to assist and bless institute students and other youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rhode Island and Rome while effectively serving our students on campus in Rexburg."
PRESIDENT DAVID A. BEDNAR | Ricks College Inaugural Response, February 1998
Elder Bednar said these words at his inaugural address as president of Ricks College in 1998. Nearly 20 years later, PathwayConnect has
We must learn to assist and bless institute students and other LDS youth in Rhode Island and Rome
"I’m convinced that we will find new ways to use information technology, new ways to reach more students and to deepen the learning experiences of those we touch … In these experiences students will teach one another in new and powerful ways. The capacity to educate effectively across time and across space will allow us to leverage the capacity of the university and reach many more young people."
PRESIDENT KIM B. CLARK | BYU-Idaho Inaugural Response, October 2005
Just four years after this statement in 2005, Elder Clark, then president of BYU-Idaho, directed the launch of the first ever PathwayConnect locations in Idaho, New York, and Arizona, using new technology to reach out and spread the blessings of education. Since then, PathwayConnect has continued to leverage new ways to connect and educate students around the world.
... we will find new ways to use information technology, new ways to reach more students.
Sign up for PathwayConnect Today
PathwayConnect is a low-cost, flexible option for students looking to begin or return to higher education. Designed as a way to bring higher education to members of the Church around the world, it has opened the doors of higher education to tens of thousands who have earned more than 2,200 certificates and degrees through BYU-Idaho Online.
If you are looking for your path to earning your degree from home, then PathwayConnect is for you! Learn more about
