page_title: Brigham Young University
section_title: International focus
hierarchical_section_title: Brigham Young University / Academics / International focus
caption_attribution_description: BYU Maeser Building
context_page_description: Brigham Young University is a private research university owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and located in Provo, Utah. The university is run under the auspices of the church's parent organization, the Church Educational System, and is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity" with "more selective, lower transfer-in" admissions. The university's primary emphasis is on undergraduate education in 179 majors, but it also has 62 master's and 26 doctoral degree programs. The university also administers two satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem and one in Salt Lake City.
  Students attending BYU agree to follow an honor code that mandates behavior in line with LDS teachings, such as academic honesty, adherence to dress and grooming standards, abstinence from extramarital sex and homosexual behavior, and no consumption of illegal drugs, coffee, tea, alcohol, or tobacco. Approximately 99 percent of the students are members of the LDS Church.
context_section_description: Over three quarters of the student body has some proficiency in a second language (numbering 107 languages in total).  This is partially due to that 45 percent of the student body at BYU has been missionaries for LDS Church, and many of them learned a foreign language as part of their mission assignment. During any given semester, about one-third of the student body is enrolled in foreign language classes, a rate nearly four times the national average. BYU offers courses in over 60 different languages, many with advanced courses that are seldom offered elsewhere. Several of its language programs are the largest of their type in the nation, the Russian program being one example. 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. It was also selected as a Center for International Business Education Research, a function of which is to train business employees in international languages and relations.
  Beyond this, BYU also runs a very large study abroad program, with satellite centers in London, Jerusalem, and Paris, as well as more than 20 other sites. Nearly 2,000 students take advantage of these programs yearly. In 2001 the Institute of International Education ranked BYU as the number one university in the U.S. to offer students study abroad opportunities. The BYU Jerusalem Center, which was closed in 2000 due to student security concerns related to the Second Intifada and, more recently, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, was reopened to students in the Winter 2007 semester.
  A few special additions enhance the language-learning experience. For example, BYU's International Cinema, featuring films in several languages, is the largest and longest-running university-run foreign film program in the country. As already noted, BYU also offers an intensive foreign language living experience, the Foreign Language Student Residence.  This is an on-campus apartment complex where students commit to speak only their chosen foreign language while in their apartments. Each apartment has at least one native speaker to ensure correct language usage.
caption: The Maeser Building, built in 1911, houses BYU's Honors Program.
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