I’m pretty tired of this narrative that’s going around about the Pac 12 being academically elite versus the big 12. I get it that on one measure a research dollars you can compare the academic machinery working better and some of those institutions than others. My experience at BYU and at an Ivy League is that the undergraduate teaching quality at BYU is exceptional. The other thing that is completely missed in those measures is the effect of a university to produce graduate fit for local workforce and regional success. Other than Stanford, Cal, UCLA, and perhaps, USC, no other institution in the Pac 12 has a strong in undergraduate education when measured by workforce placement, average salary, graduate school placement, etc. than BYU. It absolutely cracks me up when universe of Utah tries to pull the elite card. They do have a strong set of graduate programs, but nowhere near the strength of BYU’s undergraduate programs— which is its focus as designed by the trustees.

In graduate school, I saw a ton of BYU individuals, one person from Carl, one person from Stanford, one from Utah, several from Michigan, a bunch from the other ivy leagues. BYU ranked in the top five of placements into those graduate programs.

I’m happy that Utah has improved some of its masters programs like business for the good of the local economy but they’re nowhere near what BYU produces undergrad and graduate school in terms of quality for professional programs.