Brigham Young University is the oldest existing institution within the LDS Church Educational System, and the third-largest private university enrollment in the United States.

Approximately 98% of the 34,000 students at BYU are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; one-third of its American students come from within the state of Utah.

BYU students are required to adhere to an honor code, which mandates behavior in line with LDS teachings (e.g., academic honesty, adherence to dress and grooming standards, and abstinence from extramarital sex and from the consumption of drugs and alcohol). Approximately 97% of male BYU graduates have taken a two-year hiatus from their studies at some point to serve as Mormon missionaries, and 32% of BYU female graduates have been missionaries as well. Many BYU students obtain a level of foreign language proficiency while serving as LDS missionaries, and BYU has many foreign language classes, offering courses in over 70 languages. More than 75% of BYU students have some foreign language proficiency. This is partially due to the fact that 45% of the student body at BYU have been missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many of them learned a foreign language as part of their mission assignment. BYU offers courses in over 60 different languages.

Brigham Young University's primary focus is on undergraduate education, but it also has 68 master's and 25 doctoral degree programs, including a Juris Doctor program. About 70% of student tuition is funded by LDS Church tithing funds, making tuition less expensive than at similar private universities.

The average ACT score and GPA for admitted students during the recent years was 28.2 and 3.8, respectively.