Ensign College

Since you're bringing up this idea of blurring, very recently, we've seen the emergence, not very recently, it's been over the last couple of years, but the emergence of the 90-credit bachelor degree, which is a really, really good example of blurring.

Because the question that I have had, because I've been documenting this since the first school in Utah called Ensign College got the 90 credit vouchers in 2023.

It's the first one.

And so we've been tracking it.

Yeah.

And I listened to a talk at Ensign College by Hank Smith that kind of went through the whole [laughs]...

Since we're doing this mutual admiration society thing here-

[laughs]

You can find that one of those spiritual connections in one of the building's elevators, have weirdly the main sounds.

Our son Santiago is an Ensign College graduate who currently is very-- is working very happily in Germany.

One day while he is, was in his way to one of his classes unexpectedly, he was asked to take a photo, and before he knew it, he ended stuck in the elevator.

[laughs]

But if you speak with him, he will let you know that at the end of the day, it was Ensign College which ended stuck in his heart forever.

We have witnessed what school, uh, what this school experience has done for his life.

It has had an enormous impact.

But now, all over the planet.

If you folks would like to hear a really beautiful big-picture summary of going back to the Abrahamic covenant and all this we're talking about, go to Ensign College, find Hank Smith's talk on this, because he did a really beautiful...

With characteristic Hank-like energy.

They're, they're thinking of bottling that and putting it in a, a prescription strength.

The college just isn't the same without the Kush's around.

So good morning, and welcome to a new semester here at Ensign College.

I'm so grateful to be here with you and to have another day never to be forgotten here at Ensign, as President Kush says.

I'm grateful for my husband and his support, for my friends who are here today, and I'm especially grateful for the opportunity I have here to work at Ensign alongside all of you.

I feel like for many years I've known of Ensign College, but since coming here every single day, I feel like I'm beginning to really know Ensign College, to know the people, the students, the mission, and especially what President Kush often refers to as the light of Ensign.

I feel it when I'm here, and I feel so lucky to be my small part of it.

You know, the older I get, the more I realize there are no coincidences in life.

Valaine Briggs had grown up on a cattle ranch outside Dillon, a small town in southwestern Montana.

Born in September of 1958, she'd come down to Salt Lake City to study court reporting at the LDS Business College, working toward a steady career taking down testimony in courtrooms.

By the spring of 1977, she was 18, sharing an apartment with several other young women, and by every account she was reserved and almost compulsively punctual.

The people who knew her would tell investigators the same thing over and over on the day after she disappeared.

Forbes says a growing number of colleges across the country are rolling out three-year bachelor degree programs.

Schools including Johnson & Wales, BYU Idaho, Ensign College, and others already offering the accelerated option.

Supporters say the trend could help reduce student debt and get grads into the workforce sooner.

But critics worry students might miss some of the broader educational experiences.