Press Release
PROVO, Utah – Brigham Young University (BYU) confirmed an error in its admissions notification system that caused nine applicants to receive congratulatory acceptance letters despite their applications actually being rejected. Following a wave of reactions from families and the public, the university decided to admit all nine applicants.
High school student Owen Johansen, residing in Oakton, Virginia, was among those who received the letter. Johansen said his initial feeling was joy upon reading the acceptance notice. Since both of Johansen's parents are BYU alumni, the family was ecstatic.
However, as he began preparing for enrollment and looking for roommates, Johansen discovered that the “Welcome to BYU” notification in the online system had disappeared and was replaced by a rejection notice.
Johansen's family subsequently contacted the university and was informed that the previous acceptance letters resulted from a system error, causing confusion for 12th grade students currently applying.
Family Reaction
Johansen said his first feeling after learning the news was anger, which then turned to sadness.
Johansen's mother felt the situation was even more disappointing when the school sent an apology to the parents but did not contact her son directly.
The Johansen family requested that BYU honor the admission results for Johansen and the other eight applicants.
University Apologizes and Reverses Decision
Following strong public reaction, BYU announced on March 5 that it would allow all nine applicants to enroll.
Admissions Director Chad Johnson publicly apologized, stating the error originated from the admissions notification system.
“We are truly sorry for the error in the admissions decision notification system that caused nine applicants to mistakenly receive acceptance letters,” Johnson said.
The university stated that the nine applicants are granted provisional admission status, and the admissions team will work with each case to ensure academic standards are met—a fundamental requirement from university professors today.
In Johansen's case, BYU required him to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Admission Rates at BYU
According to university data:
More than 14,000 applications were submitted for the freshman student program.
Acceptance rate is approximately 68.7%.
Average tuition per semester:
$3,344 for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
$6,688 for non-church members.
Previous Admissions Errors
This incident is not the first time BYU has encountered admissions system errors. In 2024, the university's nursing department accidentally sent both acceptance and rejection letters to hundreds of applicants due to a new system error.
