BYU Campus Gridlock As Freshman Enrollment Increases Yet Again

It was a momentuous first day of the 2026 fall semester for new and returning BYU students alike. There were joy-filled mission reunions and the weather was perfect. The only cloud in the sky was a dramatic and unprecedented gridlock stretching from the JKB to the JSB.

BYU has been steadily increasing enrollment for the past several years, and this year brought yet another record-sized freshman class. Every freshman faces some confusion getting to their classes, but dial up the freshman numbers a little too much, and there will be traffic trouble.

Between the sheer number of people and the confusion amongst the freshmen, students found themselves at an absolute standstill during the 10:50-11:00 passing period.

“It was insane. I kept trying to take a step forward, and I’d get pushed back by someone else trying to get to their class,” said Jacob Stairwell.

“I was just trying to get to my religion class and there were ten freshmen around me staring at their phones trying to figure out where their next class was,” said Helena Himberburg.

Freshman Nephi Benson weighed in with the comment that “BYU makes it too hard to tell where my classes are. It would be nice if they assigned someone to come with me to all my classes and make sure I don’t get lost.”

The BYU Enrollment Office did not respond to a request for comment, citing that they were too busy lowering standards for the next admissions cycle.