Ensign College, formerly LDS Business College, is a private college sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It offers skills-based certificates, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees and is part of the Church Educational System (CES), which also includes BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii, and BYU-Pathway Worldwide. In addition to its large number of campus offerings, a smaller selection of those offerings are being made available online through BYU-Pathway.

Through this partnership, BYU-Pathway students will have even more certificate and degree options to help them increase their marketability. There is a shared standard for all academic coursework across all online programs, whether that comes from BYU-Idaho or Ensign College. All students in an online program, regardless of the school, will have the same level of rigor and expectation.

BYU-Pathway includes six key decisions as part of its strategy: to be affordable, applied, scalable, focused on access, focused on completion, and embedded in the Church. We’re excited to partner with Ensign College to bring affordable and applicable education to even more students across the world.

Eligibility for the new Ensign College online offerings has been scheduled in phases.

Current PathwayConnect Students
Eligible for Ensign College Online Programs Starting January 2022

• Students who have completed PathwayConnect.
• Students who will complete PathwayConnect in December 2021.
• Students are not eligible at this time if they have ever previously enrolled in an online degree program through BYU-Pathway Worldwide/BYU-Idaho.

Current BYU-Idaho Online Degree-seeking Students
Anticipated to be Eligible for the Ensign College Applied Communication Degree Starting April 2022

• Students currently pursuing an online degree from BYU-Idaho

The following Ensign College certificates are introductory, or first, certificates and are not
available to students seeking a BYU-Idaho degree who have already completed a certificate:

• Basic Accounting
• Hospitality and Tourism Management
• Medical Billing and Coding Fundamentals
• Project Management
• Social Media Marketing
• Technical Support Engineer

Other
Anticipated to be Eligible Starting January 2022

• Individuals who are not currently enrolled in an online degree program through BYU-Pathway Worldwide/BYU-Idaho

New semesters start every September, January, and April. Review our application process for more information.

If you meet eligibility requirements for Winter Semester 2022 (Jan.–Apr.), you will receive an email notifying you that your application has been accepted. This email will prompt you to select the first certificate to begin building your degree.

If you select a certificate from Ensign College to begin your degree, the way we will evaluate your previous transfer credits depends on which degree that certificate builds into.

Ensign College Degree
The only online degree offered by Ensign College (in association with BYU-Pathway Worldwide) is applied communication, and you would take social media marketing as the first certificate to build this degree. If you choose this path, because your first certificate AND your bachelor’s degree will both come from Ensign College, your transfer credits will be evaluated by Ensign College within your first semester of enrollment.

BYU-Idaho Degree
BYU-Pathway provides access to online degrees from BYU-Idaho in applied business management, applied technology, applied health, and professional studies. However, degrees can be built by stacking certificates from both Ensign College and BYU-Idaho. If your first certificate is from Ensign College, but your degree will come from BYU-Idaho, your transfer credits will be evaluated as follows:

• Ensign College will evaluate transfer credits that relate to your first certificate.
  
  • However, most transfer credits will count toward elective or general education requirements and will, therefore, not be evaluated until after you complete your first certificate (see below).
• BYU-Idaho will evaluate transfer credits that relate to your bachelor’s degree.
  
  • This is where most or all of your former credits will be applied.
  • These credits will not be evaluated until after you complete your first certificate with Ensign College. (For most students, the first certificate takes about one year to complete.)
  • You can conduct your own unofficial evaluation of how your credits will transfer by using this tool: my.byui.edu/ICS/Transfer_Students. (Also see general information about how BYU-Idaho processes transfer credits.)

For additional questions about transfer credits, visit our Help page.

To complete a bachelor’s degree, students must:

• Complete required religion courses
• Maintain a 2.0 GPA or higher (a “C” average)
• Earn 120 credits
• Complete major requirements
• Complete required resident credits:
  • For online degrees earned from Ensign College: Students must complete at least 50% of the total credits required for a degree from Ensign College.
  • For online degrees earned from BYU-Idaho: Students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours from BYU-Idaho.

Systems are not currently in place to allow students pursuing a program from BYU-Idaho to enroll in a program from Ensign College. Beginning Spring 2022 (April), these students are anticipated to be eligible to pursue the Applied Communications degree offered from Ensign College (though students should consult with an advisor before doing so). Credits earned at BYU-Idaho will typically apply toward the Ensign College degree.

Tuition discounts
Regardless if your degree goes through BYU-Idaho or Ensign College, all BYU-Pathway students are eligible to receive a tuition discount! The tuition discount amount or scholarship varies based on a student's needs and enrollment status. Please visit our Tuition Discount page for details.

U.S. Federal Financial Aid
All degree programs serviced by BYU-Pathway will no longer be eligible for U.S. federal loans or Pell Grants beginning Spring Semester 2024 (Apr.–July). If you are citizen of the United States and are receiving or may be eligible for U.S. federal loans or Pell Grants, you have a few options:

• Remain with BYU-Pathway as your service provider. You can switch to the new degree structure, or remain on your current plan. You won’t receive U.S. federal loans or Pell Grants, but there may be other aid available to you.
• Switch your provider to BYU-Idaho or Ensign College. You will remain in the same degree program and continue to receive U.S. federal loans or Pell Grants. If you completed PathwayConnect, you will keep your reduced tuition rate, but you will no longer receive other tuition discounts provided by BYU-Pathway.

Students serviced by BYU-Idaho
Students who qualify for U.S. federal loans or Pell Grants will continue to receive it if they remain in a program serviced by BYU-Idaho.

Yes. View our tuition page for current pricing.

Additionally, for students who desire a campus experience instead of online — Ensign College offers a scholarship that allows students who complete BYU-Pathway’s foundational PathwayConnect courses to continue paying a reduced tuition rate, regardless of whether they attend Ensign College online or on campus.

Eligibility requirements can be found on the BYU-Pathway admissions page.

If a student is pursuing a certificate or degree from Ensign College through BYU-Pathway, they will be able to receive all of their religion credits through their local Institute or online religion classes.

All programs offered through BYU-Pathway Worldwide are designed to be marketable. BYU-Pathway offers recommended degree plans for each degree to further improve employment possibilities.