BYU's Board of Trustees updated the religion credit requirements for graduation for Fall 2026. These changes will restrict BYU students to taking six religion credits in an academic year. (Courtesy of BYU Photo)
BYU's Board of Trustees recently updated the religion credit requirements for graduation, effective Fall 2026.Recent religion requirement changes include restricting students to no more than six religion credits per academic year, counting sister institution (Ensign College, BYUH, BYUI, and BYU Pathway) religion credits toward BYU requirements, and counting up to four credits of Institution credits toward a BYU education.Beforehand, BYU did not accept religion classes from other sister institutions in the Church Educational System. Under the new system, Associate Dean Tyler Griffin said it will allow for a simpler transfer system.“Previously, when a student transferred, their religion credits would just all be lumped together with their other academic credits,” Griffin said.For example, if a student took 13 credits at BYUI, regardless of how many religion credits taken, they would have been required to take 14 total religion credits on the BYU campus.Under the new system, any religion class taken under the Church Educational System will go straight into the religion core at BYU. Although this system is effective in fall 2026, students who have transferred before the change can petition to have the policy applied to their circumstances.Another major change made by BYU's Religious Education is the restriction to only six religion credits per academic year toward graduation requirements.Under the old system, BYU students could take up to four credits in a given semester, allowing them to take 12 credits in a year.Griffin stated that BYU's Religious Education wants BYU students to have religious education touchpoints throughout their experience at BYU.“The preference is for BYU, BYU-Idaho and BYU-Hawaii students to spread out their religion credits like trickle irrigation rather than flash-flood those classes,” Griffin said.The new policy is effective starting in fall 2026, regardless of a student's graduation date. However, students can petition the restrictions given certain circumstances.“We’re not going to hold the seniors back an extra semester because of the new policy,” Griffin said. “We’re not going to do that to them.”This requirement also extends to other CES schools.Therefore, if a student transfers to BYU from BYU-Idaho, only six religion credits per academic year will count toward graduation requirements.This restriction has raised various opinions across the BYU campus. One student, Josh Murdoch, disapproves of the recent changes.“I think they’re stupid,” Murdoch said. “I think that we should be able to take what classes we want, when we want. Restricting that just prevents people from graduating.”Murdoch continued to note that the restrictions have made graduating on time challenging.“I think that, for me personally, it’s made it a lot harder to graduate because I’m pre-med and I’ve just got certain classes I have to take before the MCAT. So not being able to take more religion credits just kind of slows me down,” he said.BYU student Ava Tait also reiterated a similar perspective on the issue.“Some people are trying to get done with college faster or trying to knock out courses at their own pace,” Tait said.For other students, the recent changes won’t affect their progress toward graduating. BYU student Beatriz Lampert stated that she usually takes one religion course each semester, but also noted that extra time to prepare for the changes would have been appreciated.“I appreciate that they let us know, but I would have appreciated it if we had more time in advance to prepare,” Lampert said.Also effective fall 2026 is the option to count up to four credits of institute credit toward religion graduation requirements. However, students cannot take more than one class per semester or term.“Say they go to Washington, D.C., on an internship for the summer,” Griffin said. “They can absolutely engage in an Institute class during summer term.”The institute class must meet a list of specific requirements, and the teacher would need to know early on in the semester. The institute credits also count toward the six-credit religion restriction per academic year.Lampert stated that this recent change will help her meet the graduation requirements.“That helped me a lot,” she said. “I believe that if students are aware of that option, maybe they will feel a little bit more at peace with the changes.”To see the full list of BYU religion requirements, visit their website.
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tyler griffin
Josh Murdoch
ava tait
Beatriz Lampert
religion requirements
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