BYU offers a variety of academic programs including those in the liberal arts, engineering, agriculture, management, physical and mathematical sciences, nursing, and law.

The university also administers four satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem, Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and London, while its parent organization the Church Educational System (CES) sponsors sister schools in Hawaii and Idaho.

The origin of BYU can be traced back to 1862, when Warren Dusenberry started a Provo school in Cluff Hall, a prominent adobe building in the northeast corner of 200 East and 200 North.

[11] After some financial difficulties, the school was recreated in the Kinsey and Lewis buildings on Center Street in Provo, and after gaining some recognition for its quality, was adopted to become the Timpanogos branch of the University of Deseret.

[14] Said Young about his vision: "I hope to see an Academy established in Provo ... at which the children of the Latter-day Saints can receive a good education unmixed with the pernicious atheistic influences that are found in so many of the higher schools of the country.

[16] A series of odd managerial decisions by Cluff led to his demotion; however, in his last official act, he proposed to the board that the academy be named "Brigham Young University".

BYU did not have the facilities to handle such a large influx, so he bought part of an Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah and rebuilt it to house some of the students.

[65] In 2004, a National Bureau of Economic Research study on revealed preference of U.S. colleges showed BYU was the 6th most-preferred choice in the Intermountain West, between Princeton and Brown.

[68] Also in 2020, The racial breakdown of students was 81.0% white, 7.3% Hispanic, 4.4% multi-ethnic, 3.3% international, 1.9% Asian, 1.0% unknown, 0.7% native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 0.4% Black or African American.

Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor and pioneer of the electronic television, began college at BYU, and later returned to do fusion research, receiving an honorary degree from the university in 1967.

[94] Alumnus Harvey Fletcher, inventor of stereophonic sound, went on to carry out the now famous oil-drop experiment with Robert Millikan, and was later Founding Dean of the BYU College of Engineering.

[95] H. Tracy Hall, inventor of the man-made diamond, left General Electric in 1955 and became a full professor of chemistry and Director of Research at BYU.

[101] To provide students with opportunities for both spiritual and intellectual insight, BYU has hosted weekly devotional and forum assemblies since the school's early days.

[103] Several times each year the devotional is replaced by a forum, which typically addresses a more secular topic and may include a speaker from outside the BYU or Latter-day Saint community.

In recent years, forum speakers have included notable politicians (e.g. Joseph Lieberman, Mitt Romney), scientists (Neil deGrasse Tyson, DJ Patil), historians (David McCullough, Richard Beeman), religious leaders (Archbishop Charles Chaput, Albert Mohler) and judicial figures (John Roberts, Thomas Griffith).

[32] The university was selected by the United States Department of Education as the location of the national Middle East Language Resource Center, making the school a hub for experts on that region.

[124] BYU's Wind Symphony and Chamber Orchestra have toured many countries including Denmark, Hong Kong, Russia, the British Isles, and Central Europe.

This has caused minor controversy, but is largely recognized as not lending the school any significant advantage, since players receive no athletic and little physical training during their missions.

[133] BYU has also received attention from sports networks for refusal to play games on Sunday, as well as expelling players due to honor code violations.

Leaders encourage students and faculty to help fulfill the goal by following the teachings of their religion, adhering to the school's honor code, and serving others with the knowledge they gain while attending.

Maeser created the "Domestic Organization", a group of teachers who would visit students at their homes to ensure they were following the school's moral rules prohibiting obscenity, profanity, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

[164][165][166] Though the ban on coming out was lifted in 2007, LGBTQ BYU students are at risk of expulsion for any same-sex romantic expression including hugging and handholding.

[169][170][171] Current policy assures that victims "will not be disciplined by the university for any related honor code violation occurring at or near the time of the reported sexual misconduct unless a person's health or safety is at risk.

[181] The Princeton Review has also ranked BYU the "#1 stone-cold sober school" in the nation for 22 consecutive years,[182] most likely due to students' adherence to the university's Honor Code.

Cabinet members of American presidents include former Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson ('26), and former United States Solicitor General, Rex E. Lee ('60).

[205] In literature and journalism, BYU has produced several best-selling authors, including Orson Scott Card ('75),[206] Brandon Sanderson ('00 & '05),[207] Stephenie Meyer ('95)[208] and Tara Westover ('08).

Other media personalities include award-winning ESPN sportscaster and former Miss America Sharlene Wells Hawkes ('86) and former co-host of CBS's The Early Show Jane Clayson Johnson ('90).

"Greatest of All Time" champion and later host, Ken Jennings ('00),[217] Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kieth Merrill ('67), and Richard Dutcher, the "Father of Mormon Cinema".

[218] In the music industry BYU is represented by lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning band Imagine Dragons Dan Reynolds, multi-platinum selling drummer Elaine Bradley from the band Neon Trees, chart-topping composer and violist Blake Allen ('10), crossover dubstep violinist Lindsey Stirling, former American Idol contestant Carmen Rasmusen, and Tabernacle Choir director Mack Wilberg.

[225] A number of BYU alumni have found success in professional sports, representing the university in 7 MLB World Series, 5 NBA Finals, and 25 NFL Super Bowls.