- Brigham Young University mistakenly sent acceptance letters to nine students due to a systems error.
- Admissions director Chad Johnson on Thursday apologized for the mistake that caused confusion and disappointment.
- Affected families, however, are urging BYU to honor the mistaken acceptances.
PROVO — Brigham Young University is apologizing after nine prospective students mistakenly received notices that said they had been accepted.
The university told KSL a systems error led to those applicants being told they were admitted to BYU when, in fact, they were not.
"We are truly sorry that an unfortunate error in our admissions decision notification system resulted in nine prospective students mistakenly receiving congratulatory messages of acceptance," said BYU admissions director Chad Johnson in a statement. "The Admissions Department reached out to those impacted to express our regret and our sincere apologies."
Johnson added, "We know that admissions decisions are highly anticipated, and we recognize this mistake caused confusion and disappointment. Our BYU admissions team is working to ensure this mistake does not occur in the future."
For at least one of those students and his family, it's been a painful experience. Owen Johansen, 18, a high school senior who lives in Oakton, Virginia, received his acceptance to BYU two weeks ago.
"At first when I was accepted, I was really excited," he said.
His mother, Talai Johansen, told KSL their family was "thrilled" and celebrated his admission to the place where both she and her husband went to school.
But last week, as they went through the process of accepting the admission and finding a roommate, they realized something was off. A rejection letter had replaced the "Welcome to BYU" notification in his online portal.
After trying to get BYU officials to talk with them, the Johansens said they eventually learned the acceptance letter was a mistake.
"I was really mad," Owen Johansen said. "They could have done it way better."
The whole experience, he added, left him "pretty sad."
His mother said she's disappointed that the university has only reached out to apologize to her and her husband, but not to her son directly. Talia Johansen wants BYU to honor his acceptance.
"I don't want them to just do it for Owen. I want them to do it for these eight other students. I want all of these nine students to be admitted into BYU," she said. "It is the right thing to do."
Talai Johansen added, "I have been completely heartbroken by this entire process."
In 2024, BYU's College of Nursing mistakenly sent out both acceptance and rejection letters to hundreds of prospective students. The university blamed that on an "error in a new system."
