Leaked documents show BYU favored male applicants for years
PROVO, Utah — (KUTV) A document posted on the website Mormon Leaks shows during 2013 and 2014, BYU admissions gave preference to male applicants.
A BYU spokeswoman said in a statement the school no longer gives admissions preference based on gender.
A document titled, "New Freshman Index 2013-2014," shows that during that time, applicants to the university were scored on several factors to determine whether they'd be admitted to the school and male applicants were given an extra point.
The factors for scoring included GPA, ACT score, seminary recommendation and extracurricular activities for a possible 100 points.
That list also included "Special Interest" as a factor. Another section of the document defines "Special Interest" as "add 1.0 for male applicants."
"Special Interest" was given more weight than "Seminary Recommendation" or "Small School," which each had a weight of .75 points.
BYU student Alexia Modzelewska said she was admitted to BYU in 2014. She does not feel the practice of giving her male counterparts an extra point was wrong.
"I don't think it's a sign of gender discrimination," she said.
Not knowing the reason for the admission policy, she assumed the school gave men more weight in admissions because perhaps the school was trying to even out the population given that many male students were away serving LDS missions.
"I think there are more women than men at BYU, " she said.
During 2012, the leaked document shows the student population at BYU was 52 percent female, 47 percent male.
"I don't know if it would be fair if I was a woman and didn't get accepted for one point for the same qualifications," said student Dallin Miller who is also in his second year at BYU.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins issued this statement:
BYU has monitored the balance of male and female students who are admitted. This is a lawful practice under federal law for private institutions of undergraduate higher education. However, beginning in the spring of 2015, we stopped giving preference for either gender.
