Utah faces revenue gap as students go on missions

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow state universities to give high-performing out-of-state students in-state tuition as the state aims to fill a revenue gap created by an unprecedented exodus of students on Mormon missions.

A House committee hearing is set for Monday afternoon.

Mission applications have doubled since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in October it was lowering the minimum age for missionaries: from 21 to 19 for women; and from 19 to 18 for men.

Enrollment is down at eight colleges and universities in Utah this spring semester as new, younger missionaries prepare for missions at the same time as older missionaries who were already planning to go.

The Utah Senate moved the bill forward earlier this month in a unanimous vote.