The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ recent decision to lower the missionary service age from 19 to 18 for young men, and from 21 to 19 for young women has certainly generated a lot of excitement in Eastern Idaho.

    But its impact on student enrollment at area universities remains to be seen.

    LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson made the announcement during the 182nd Semiannual General Conference held earlier this month, and since that time Brigham Young University-Idaho has been fielding calls from current and prospective students who want to know more about their options. The school, which is affiliated with the church, has a roughly 99 percent LDS student body.

    Rob Garrett, managing director of enrollment services at BYU-Idaho, said they’ve received between 200 and 300 such calls since last week.

    “We’re now getting a few dozen a day,” he said, adding that the callers want to know if BYU-Idaho will hold their enrollment if they go on a mission, if they should apply now even if they’re planning to serve, and if they can take time off from school in order to earn money to go on a mission at their own expense.

    Garrett said the answer to all of those questions is “Yes.”

    “Our only advice to students is to let us know what their plans are so we can help facilitate those plans from a university standpoint,” he said.

    Matthew Kroeger, director of admissions and recruitment at Idaho State University, said they don’t really track how many of the students there are LDS.

    “Our application for admission does include a question that gives applicants the opportunity to report their religion; however, this is an optional question,” he said.

    As a result, he’s not yet sure how the church’s announcement will impact enrollment at ISU.

    “I would imagine that after we host our Future Student Nights events across the state for prospective students and parents ... and we have the opportunity to hear more from high school counselors and administrators, we may have a better idea if this change will be impacting the educational plans and/or timeline for LDS students,” he said.

    Garrett, on the other hand, expects that some current and prospective students will defer their enrollment at BYU-Idaho in the months ahead. Of course, that’s nothing new to BYU-Idaho since many of their students have deferred schooling in the past to go on missions. The only difference now is that they will be able to do it at an earlier age.

    Although the Church’s announcement now applies to all LDS members who want to serve, officials have allowed some 18-year-old, high school graduates  from certain countries to go on missions in the past so that they could fulfill required military obligations and educational opportunities, Monson said when he made the announcement.

    “Our experience with these 18-year-old missionaries has been positive. Their mission presidents report that they are obedient, faithful, mature, and serve just as competently as do the older missionaries who serve in the same missions,” Monson said during the conference. “Their faithfulness, obedience and maturity have caused us to desire the same option of earlier missionary call(s) for all young men, regardless of the country from which they come.”

    The church currently has 58,000 missionaries serving throughout the world, and officials expect that number to significantly increase as a result of the lower service age, according to a news release.

    Garrett thinks the opportunity young men and women now have to serve at an earlier age could actually help them in college.

    “We believe this will be a positive change. Missionary work requires focus and discipline that translates well to university studies. It provides unparalleled opportunities to develop leadership skills,” he said. “We find that the large number of returned missionaries on our campus adds a unique dimension of maturity and spiritual depth to the student body.”

    Kroeger said there could be other advantages as well.

    “For those who may delay their enrollment at ISU due to this change, it does provide our staff the opportunity to work even more closely with them and their parents, so they can have their plans in place prior to their mission departure,” he said.