During his first interview as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dallin H. Oaks said the patriarchal faith had “work left to do” in “using the great qualifications and powers of the daughters of God.”
Barely a month later, he and his First Presidency counselors, apostles Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson, announced that young women can now enter missionary service at age 18, the same as young men.
“I never understood why they wanted the girls to wait,” said Becca Ferguson, a 21-year-old student at church-owned Brigham Young University and returned missionary. “Girls kind of mature faster than boys.”
Differences in the mission experience still remain. The news release stressed that the experience is “optional” [emphasis in the release] for young women, while their male counterparts are still strongly encouraged to serve. Neither did the faith leaders alter the length of service — 18 months for young women, two years for young men.
Nonetheless, Latter-day Saints who have studied and written about the role of women in the church believe the change will have a wide range of impacts, from raising the standing of women in the global faith to improving their academic outcomes — even as the effect on factors like enrollment in Utah’s schools remain to be seen.
Neylan McBaine, author of “Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact,” said the change “seems to downplay any concerns about sexuality or romantic relationships” occurring between the male and female proselytizers during their missions (a long-standing argument made by some members in favor of an age gap), while underscoring the value of their service.
“It seems to put women on an equal playing field with men,” McBaine said, “in terms of being responsible for ecclesiastical and proselytizing responsibilities.”
(Rick Bowmer | AP) Neylan McBaine says the lower mission age puts women on "an equal playing field with men in terms of being responsible for ecclesiastical and proselytizing responsibilities.”
Ashlee Paulsen, an 18-year-old BYU student, put it even more bluntly.
“I have been saying for years,” Paulsen said, “that I just wish they’d change it for girls to 18. It’s not fair.”
Amy Watkins Jensen — a former missionary who manages the social media account @womenonthestand, which she launched after the removal of women’s leaders from the stand at worship services in California’s Bay Area — called any “[move] toward more egalitarian practices…a win” not only for young women but also for the church’s overall culture.
Pointing to Oaks’ comments about women in his recent interview, she said, “He’s really taking that seriously.”
Those interviewed also pointed to benefits outside of church life, particularly the elimination of the yearlong gap between high school graduation and missionary service — a point all agreed amounted to a major barrier.
Vinna Chowriamah, a Latter-day Saint convert from Mauritius, explained this change is especially relevant for young women living in parts of the country and world where finding a job to fill that waiting period can be trickier than somewhere like, say, the Wasatch Front.
“Many would start college while trying to figure out when they could leave, making educational planning unnecessarily complicated,” Chowriamah said. “This adjustment will deeply affect not only young women in North America but 18-year-olds around the world.”
At the same time, returned missionaries are able to benefit from a 25% discount with BYU-Pathway Worldwide, its online education program geared toward students outside the United States.
“That,” she said, “is huge.”
Missions make for better students
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Susan Madsen doesn't expect marriage ages and birthrates to change with the lower mission age for Latter-day Saint women.
According to Susan Madsen, a Utah State University professor and founding director of the Utah Women & Leadership Project, returned missionaries don’t have to take advantage of this particular perk to reap the rewards of a mission in an academic setting.
“You end up having a better freshman and sophomore year,” she observed. “You’re more mature. You know how to study. You know how to learn.”
Madsen has seen this anecdotally in her students and in the data.
In 2023, researchers at BYU published a study showing that women who struggled academically tended to do better in school upon return. They also sought out majors with greater earning potential.
“More young women will, I believe, take the opportunity to serve in this very unique way where you engulf yourself into a full leadership development experience and a human development experience,” Madsen said. “And that is awesome.”
One outcome Madsen doesn’t foresee is any change in marriage ages or rates, and by extension birthrates. The reason, she said, has to do with timing. Compared to years past, Utah women simply aren’t tying the knot at 18 or 19 anymore, she said, instead waiting until a median age of 25.
How college enrollments may change
If the removal of an unwieldy gap year does, in fact, translate to more women serving missions, the impact could be significant on Utah’s universities, along with BYU-Idaho and BYU-Hawaii, where student bodies are overwhelmingly Latter-day Saint.
When asked about the possible effect on enrollment, BYU spokesperson Audrey Perry Martin skirted the question, instead saying the faith’s flagship school is “eager to support our students as they embrace this exciting announcement.”
Sharon Turner, a spokesperson for Utah Valley University, offered a similar response. The Orem school, home to a large Latter-day Saint population, has “a long history of supporting LDS members who choose to serve a mission,” Turner said. She encouraged those considering doing so to connect with its Student Success Center to learn more about its leave-of-absence policies.
Utah State University spokesperson Amanda DeRito said the Logan school anticipates a temporary dip starting in the fall 2026 semester, followed by a bump in around 18 months.
“We’ve had dozens of calls already,” DeRito said, “from people wanting to defer enrollment.”
The last time church leaders lowered the missionary age for women was in 2012, when it dropped from 21 to 19 (and from 19 to 18 for men).
DeRito said the school saw a noticeable decline then that lasted for about 24 months.
BYU saw a 10% drop around that same time. That number recovered in 2016.
Setting aside the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of overall missionaries has remained elevated (albeit below the surge that immediately followed the announcement). Latest numbers put the global force at more than 84,000. As a result, the church has announced nearly 100 new missions — that is, assigned geographic proselytizing zones — since 2023, including 55 due to come on line next year.
Whether a one-year reduction produces a similar burst, time will tell.
In the meantime, some are already starting to rethink their plans.
Emma Olsen, a 17-year-old BYU student (she graduated high school early), said she had been “iffy” on serving when doing so meant waiting a year and a half. Now that’s no longer the case, she said, “I am thinking that I will.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Missionaries perform service in France.
Kate Behrmann, an 18-year-old BYU student who turns 19 in the summer, said she has been “thinking a lot about a mission” and “can actually make this decision now.”
Fellow Cougar Hayley Stuckey, also 18, doesn’t anticipate the announcement changing any of her plans.
“I would go after winter semester,” she said, “but I think it’s super cool for all the [high school] senior girls right now.”