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Fall 2016: Nearly 40 percent of female students have served a mission

Enrollment returns back above pre-missionary-age-change levels

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Photo by Amy Pearman

The enrollment reports for Fall 2016 are in, and we thought it would be fun to share a few highlights. From returned missionaries to transfer students, here are some of the most notable facts and figures.

As you may remember, our enrollment saw a 10-percent dip in the years following the missionary age change announcement, as many BYU students answered the call to serve. Now, four years later, BYU’s total enrollment is almost exactly the same as it was when the announcement came in Fall 2012:

Fall 2012: 33,336
Fall 2016: 33,363

Speaking of missionaries, the number of students who served a mission continues to go up. This fall 21,560 students are returned missionaries, which represents 65 percent of all students.

For comparison purposes, the total number of returned missionaries on campus in 2012 was 15,432, or about 46 percent of the total student body. At that time approximately 10 percent of female students had served missions. Now, nearly 40 percent of female students are returned missionaries.

RMs Fall 2012: 15,432 (46% of students)

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Photo by Amy Pearman

Female: 1,637 (10% of female students)
Male: 13,816 (79% of male students)

RMs Fall 2016: 21,560 (65% of students)
Female: 6,065 (39% of female students)
Male: 15,495 (88% of male students)

To the right is a table of the 10 missions most represented at BYU by number of returned missionaries (with the number indicating how many students served in that mission). Now, one more note on missionaries: BYU students have served in 411 of the 418 missions worldwide.

Below are several other fun statistics, from the number of married students to which states and countries are most represented at BYU.

Selected Demographics:
*Single Students: 73%
*Married Students: 27%
(*self-reported statistic with slight margin of error)

Transfer Students:
New Transfer Students: 685 (13% of new students)
Students who entered BYU as transfers: 19.3%
Transfers bring credit from: 1,080 institutions

Top States (all 50 states represented):
Utah: 11,632 (34.9%)
California: 3,730 (11.2%)
Idaho: 1,809 (5.4%)
Texas: 1,702 (5.1%)
Arizona: 1,598 (4.8%)

Top Countries represented (of 100+ countries)
Canada
South Korea
China
Mexico
Brazil

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