College Fact Sheet

Number of students with declared majors in the college in January 2013: 2,203

Number of class sections offered, 2012-2013: 2,065

Departments within the college: 7

Number of degrees offered by the college: 33

There are 22 undergraduate and 11 graduate options, including programs in animation, bioinformatics, earth and space science education, astronomy, applied physics, and actuarial science, among others. See a complete listing of undergraduate programs here. For graduate programs, please refer to BYU Graduate Studies here.

Number of minors offered by the college: 13

Number of full-time faculty: 167

Number of publications in 2012: 501

This includes all published, peer-reviewed journal articles, books, proceedings, and abstracts contributed to by faculty.

Incoming grant/research funding in 2012: $92,524,119

Number of buildings used by the college: 6

Total square footage on campus dedicated to the physical and mathematical sciences: 560,626

Elevation of the West Mountain Observatory: 6,850 feet

At the end of a winding mountain road off the southern end of Utah Lake, BYU’s remote observatory houses three telescopes and small living quarters to facilitate night-time research.

First BYU building to have an elevator: Eyring Science Center

Year in which BYU’s original Summerhay’s Planetarium, the first in Utah, was opened: 1958

The new Royden G. Derrick Planetarium at BYU was dedicated in 2005 by Elder Richard G. Scott, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Number of test tubes used each year by students in the Introduction to Chemistry class: 160,000

Number of supply types available in the Chemistry Central Stockroom: 9,000

Types of oils available in the Stockroom: 20

Number of disposable gloves sold every year by the Stockroom: 1,000,000

That’s enough gloves to put on all the hands of a capacity crowd at the LaVell Edwards football stadium—seven times over.

Time it takes for the Nicholes building fire-suppression system to completely fill a room with foam: 30 seconds

BYU is the only university to have a fire-suppression system of this kind in its main chemical vault.

Max weight measurable on the Stockroom’s scale: 1,000 lbs

Approximate number of visitors to the Museum of Paleontology, yearly: 25,000

Of course, there isn’t any available data on how many cub scouts actually make it past the dinosaurs alive.

Number of specimens in the Museum’s collection: over 18,000

Length of the Utahraptor’s claw: 9.8 inches

That’s over twice the size of the average human index finger. Fossils from the Utahraptor can be seen at the Museum.

Cost of admission to the Museum of Paleontology: free

While you’re strolling around with your date, be sure to drop a donation through the dinosaur skull near the entrance.

Amount of concrete in the Benson building: 37,800 cubic feet

That’s enough to make a 5 foot wide, 4 inch thick sidewalk that would stretch 43 miles, from Provo to Salt Lake City.

Cost of tuition and fees per semester in 1950, when the ESC was dedicated: $135

Number of giant panda bears housed by the college: 1

An eight-foot, four-inch model of Po, from the movie, Kung Fu Panda, stands in the Talmage building’s west lounge, as a testament to the Computer Science-Animation program.

First building on campus with an earthquake-resistant design: Talmage Building

Number of years to completely renovate the original Eyring Science Center: 2

From 1995 to 1997, the building was completely gutted, so that a person standing in one corner of the building could see to the other side. This process removed the infamous “snake pits,” steep amphitheater-like classrooms originally designed so students could look down on demonstrations. These have now been replaced with state-of-the-art classrooms.

Information compiled using sources from BYU Magazine, department secretaries, stockroom staff, and various University publications.

About