BYU-Pathway Worldwide: Building Zion Through Education, Faith, and Opportunity

BYU-Pathway Worldwide is doing far more than making college affordable. In this episode of Scripture Central’s Let’s Get Real, host Steven Jones speaks with Brian K. Ashton of BYU-Pathway Worldwide about how education, employment, the Holy Ghost, and faith in Jesus Christ are helping people around the world escape generational poverty, strengthen their families, serve in the Church, and become established in their own countries.

The conversation focuses especially on Africa, where Ashton describes talented and faithful people who often have remarkably limited educational and economic opportunities. He shares stories of returned missionaries coming home with nowhere to live, students completing college assignments on cell phones, families surviving on one meal a day, and Church members facing the difficult choice between working for food and taking time away from work to attend the temple. Against that backdrop, BYU-Pathway Worldwide becomes part of a much larger spiritual story: helping God’s children recognize their divine potential and become spiritually and temporally established.

TL;DR: How BYU-Pathway Worldwide Is Building Zion Through Education

BYU-Pathway Worldwide combines affordable online education, gospel-centered learning, job-ready certificates, mentoring, and employment opportunities to help students build better lives while growing as disciples of Jesus Christ. Brian K. Ashton explains that the goal is not simply to distribute aid or award degrees. It is to help individuals discover their divine potential, develop useful skills, find meaningful employment, strengthen their families, serve in the Church, and eventually help others do the same. He connects that mission with the scriptural idea of becoming “established” in a land of promise and building Zion—a people who are one in heart and mind and among whom there are no poor.

Watch the Full BYU-Pathway Worldwide Interview with Brian K. Ashton

What Is the Purpose of BYU-Pathway Worldwide?

Early in the conversation, Steven Jones asks a foundational question: What problem are people essentially “hiring” BYU-Pathway to solve?

Ashton gives an answer that reaches beyond conventional definitions of higher education. He says BYU-Pathway is working toward two goals: one at the individual level and another at the societal level.

For individuals, the goal is to help people realize their divine potential. At the societal level, the goal is to help build Zion.

Ashton points to the scriptural description of Zion as a people of “one heart and one mind” who dwell in righteousness and among whom there are no poor. In that framework, education is not separated from discipleship. Temporal self-reliance can make spiritual opportunities more accessible.

Students who gain education and employment are better positioned to support families, educate children, serve in Church callings, contribute to communities and nations, worship in the temple, and help prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

One statement captures the problem BYU-Pathway is attempting to address:

“Intelligence is equally distributed, but opportunity is not.”

Ashton credits that wording to Matt Downs, who works with BYU-Pathway. The principle becomes one of the central themes of the entire interview.

BYU-Pathway Worldwide in Africa: Intelligence Is Everywhere, but Opportunity Is Not

Much of the interview examines circumstances faced by BYU-Pathway students in Africa. Ashton emphasizes that poverty should never be confused with a lack of intelligence, discipline, ambition, or spiritual capacity.

He describes students as capable, bright, diligent, and determined. The problem is that opportunity can be dramatically different depending on where someone happens to be born.

At the time described in the interview, Ashton says BYU-Pathway had approximately 89,000 students, with about 49 percent in Africa and almost 20,000 in Nigeria alone.

He also gives a startling picture of the economic circumstances of many students entering the program: more than 70 percent of BYU-Pathway’s African students, he says, are getting only one meal per day when they begin.

They are not simply budgeting carefully. Many are living hand to mouth.

When Going to the Temple Can Mean Not Eating

One of the interview’s most sobering examples connects temporal poverty directly with religious worship.

Ashton explains:

“We struggle to get people to the temple in Africa, because if they go to the temple, they can’t work and therefore they can’t eat.”

That observation changes the way the mission of BYU-Pathway can be understood. Employment and education are not merely about increasing income. For someone living day to day, greater economic stability can create the freedom to worship, serve, attend the temple, educate children, and build the Church.

The question therefore becomes: How can people be lifted enough temporally that they can more fully receive and participate in spiritual blessings?

How BYU-Pathway Helps Returned Missionaries Who Come Home to Poverty

The discussion becomes particularly moving when Ashton describes returned missionaries. Some missionaries serve faithfully and develop strong testimonies of Jesus Christ, only to return to extremely difficult economic or family circumstances.

He says some returned missionaries in Africa and the Philippines may spend their first several nights home sleeping at a Church chapel while searching for someone willing to take them in.

Some joined the Church before their missions and were rejected by their families because of their conversion. When the mission ends, there may literally be no home waiting for them.

Ashton recalls a returned missionary in Nigeria who compared his situation with former North American companions and wondered:

“I did everything I was supposed to do. Why have I been abandoned?”

Through BYU-Pathway, that young man eventually obtained a remote job and improved his circumstances.

Ashton summarizes the objective plainly: “We’re trying to give them hope. We’re trying to give them a future.”

But there is also a larger purpose. Rather than requiring faithful members to leave their countries permanently in search of economic opportunity, education and remote employment can help them remain home, raise families, serve locally, and build up the Church where they live.

Why Higher Education Is So Difficult to Access in Africa

The interview challenges an assumption common in more prosperous countries: if someone wants an education badly enough and works hard enough, there will eventually be a way to obtain it.

Ashton explains why that is not universally true.

According to the figures he shares, there are university seats for only about nine percent of university-age young people in Africa. He also notes that Africa’s population is projected to double by 2050, making the gap even more significant if educational capacity does not expand accordingly.

In some educational systems, students also have fewer opportunities to ask questions or interact directly with teachers. Families may have to pay fees even for primary and secondary education, along with expenses such as required uniforms.

University admission can present another barrier. Even where public universities are nominally free, the number of available seats is limited. Students may need exceptional examination scores, while wealthier families can afford better preparation.

In other words, hard work matters enormously—but hard work cannot create a university seat that does not exist.

Why Online Education Changes the Equation

This is where the online BYU-Pathway model becomes especially significant. Unlike a physical university campus, an online program is not constrained by the same number of classrooms, dormitories, or seats.

Ashton says that roughly half of returned missionaries in Africa now enroll in BYU-Pathway. He believes that over decades, increasing educational access among faithful young adults has the potential to strengthen both the Church and the communities where they live.

Why BYU-Pathway Focuses on Skills and Jobs Instead of Handouts

One of the most substantive sections of the interview addresses poverty relief itself.

Why not simply give people money, equipment, or other resources?

Ashton argues that handouts alone do not solve the deeper problem. When people are desperately hungry, resources intended as long-term capital can understandably be consumed to meet immediate needs.

He gives the example of providing chickens. In theory, chickens can become a productive asset. But if someone and their extended family are hungry today, preserving that asset for future economic benefit can become extraordinarily difficult.

BYU-Pathway therefore focuses on a longer-term sequence:

• Help students develop confidence and hope.
• Provide accessible education.
• Teach practical, employable skills.
• Help students earn job-ready certificates before completing an entire degree.
• Provide mentoring and educational support.
• Help qualified students access computers and internet resources.
• Connect students with local and remote employment.
• Help graduates become capable of supporting themselves and serving others.

The objective is not temporary relief alone. It is increasing a person’s capacity to act.

Some BYU-Pathway Students Do Their Homework on Cell Phones

The sacrifices described in the interview are remarkable. Ashton says some students begin BYU-Pathway using only a cell phone.

That means writing essays, completing mathematics assignments, and even working in spreadsheets from a phone.

He says they regularly hear stories of students climbing trees or finding other unusual locations simply to obtain enough cellular signal to complete coursework.

After students demonstrate progress, foundations can help some obtain computers. Church buildings can also provide internet access, and computer centers are available in some areas.

This creates a model in which resources are paired with demonstrated commitment, educational structure, and a path toward employment.

BYU-Pathway Certificates Help Students Find Employment Before Graduation

Making tuition inexpensive is important, but Ashton explains that affordability alone is not enough.

Many BYU-Pathway students have spent years being told that they are not “college material.” First-generation students may also lack basic knowledge that others unconsciously inherit from parents and peers: how to communicate with a professor, what to do when an assignment is late, how to navigate tuition, where to find tutoring, how to plan for internships, or how to solve an internet problem that interferes with schoolwork.

BYU-Pathway therefore provides what Ashton calls “scaffolding.”

Its foundational PathwayConnect experience is designed to help students build confidence and learn how to succeed academically.

The academic structure also emphasizes employment relatively early. Ashton explains that three job-ready certificates can stack into a bachelor’s degree.

That matters for a student living close to subsistence. If education produces an employable skill before the final degree is completed, the student can begin improving his or her financial circumstances while continuing school.

How Remote Jobs Are Changing Opportunities for BYU-Pathway Students

Remote employment is another important piece of the model. Ashton says that in the year referenced in the interview, approximately 15,000 BYU-Pathway students obtained remote jobs.

Some are paid in dollars. Even wages that seem modest by United States standards can have substantial purchasing power in countries with much lower living costs.

Ashton gives the example that earning roughly two to three dollars per hour in parts of Africa can be enough to support a family and educate children.

Remote employment can also bring money from larger economies into communities where local economic opportunity is limited. Graduates then have greater capacity to purchase goods and services, hire others, educate children, and support extended families.

The result can become what Ashton describes as a virtuous cycle.

Grace Nsima’s BYU-Pathway Story: From One Meal a Day to Helping Others

The emotional centerpiece of the interview is the story of Grace Nsima from Uganda.

Grace grew up with reasonable stability while her father, a professor, was alive. After his death, Ashton says her uncles took the inheritance that should have gone to her.

At 18, she was forced into an abusive marriage. She eventually had four children and, according to Ashton, was not allowed to leave the house or see her family and experienced physical abuse.

Eventually, she left.

Grace and her four daughters lived together in a room Ashton describes as approximately ten feet by ten feet. She sometimes foraged near her home simply to find enough food for one meal per day. On some days, she could not find enough.

Then Grace encountered missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and joined the Church.

Not long afterward, she learned that her branch president was participating in BYU-Pathway.

Her response captures the theme of the entire interview:

“I want an opportunity.”

Grace’s Education Changed Her Economic Future

Grace entered BYU-Pathway and thrived. Ashton describes her as diligent, eager to learn, and committed to seeking the Holy Ghost in her life.

She completed her degree in four years and obtained several remote jobs along the way. One was with Sandbox Industries, which Ashton describes as a roughly $2 billion venture capital fund based in Chicago.

According to the interview, Grace went from earning about $100 per month to well over $1,000 per month.

The firm eventually offered her full-time work.

But Grace chose another path.

Grace Chose to Return and Help Other People

BYU-Pathway offered Grace the opportunity to manage its work in Central Africa. She chose that position because she wanted other people to experience the kind of transformation she had experienced.

She now helps support the education of other students herself.

That is an important part of the BYU-Pathway vision presented in this interview. Grace did not simply move from poverty into personal prosperity. Her increased capacity enabled her to lift others.

Ashton explains:

“She’s established now. Her kids have a future. She has the gospel. She’s helping other people be established.”

Her transformation has implications beyond one generation. Her children see themselves differently. Other students receive opportunities because she helps them. Her professional abilities allow her to contribute to the Church and interact with government and media.

For Ashton, this is what changing generations can look like.

What Does It Mean to Be “Established” in the Scriptures?

The interview then moves into one of its deepest doctrinal discussions. Ashton connects BYU-Pathway’s mission to the scriptural word “established.”

He and Steven Jones examine 2 Nephi 9:1–2, where Jacob discusses the Lord’s covenants with Israel and the promise that God’s people will be gathered and “established in all their lands of promise.”

Ashton sees significant meaning in that word.

Being established is more than simply earning enough money to survive. As he describes it, being established can include:

• Having the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Having priesthood authority and local priesthood leadership.
• Having access to temples and covenants.
• Being able to learn by study and by faith.
• Having a family with a viable future.
• Being able to support that family.
• Having safety and hope.
• Being able to remain in one’s homeland and strengthen the Church there.

Ultimately, being established points toward something even greater: returning to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as eternal families.

What Are “Desolate Heritages” in Isaiah and the Book of Mormon?

The discussion continues into 1 Nephi 21, Nephi’s presentation of Isaiah 49. Ashton focuses on the Lord’s promise to “establish the earth” and cause His people “to inherit the desolate heritages.”

He applies the phrase to places where people inherit circumstances lacking many of the things that allow families and the Church to flourish.

He tells of visiting an Eastern European nation where young Latter-day Saints repeatedly told him that their goal was to leave the country because remaining there as faithful Church members made employment and advancement extremely difficult.

Ashton sees the Lord’s work differently. Rather than every faithful person needing to migrate to a wealthy country, the Lord can establish His Saints in their own lands so they can build families, congregations, communities, and eventually temples there.

BYU-Pathway can play one part in making that possible.

Education, the Holy Ghost, and Becoming More Like Heavenly Father

Perhaps the most important doctrinal claim in the interview is that education is not merely economic.

Ashton says:

“Learning is not about how smart you are. Learning is about desire, it’s about discipline, and it’s about getting the Holy Ghost.”

He teaches that the Holy Ghost is a teacher and witness of all truth—not only explicitly religious truth. Students still have to study, practice, complete homework, and obey the laws upon which learning is predicated. But they can seek divine help in the process.

This connects naturally with Doctrine and Covenants 88 and 93 and their teachings about light, truth, education, and becoming more like God.

Why Doctrine and Covenants 88 Connects Education and the Temple

Ashton observes that Doctrine and Covenants 88 repeatedly connects education, the hastening of the Lord’s work, and temple language.

The School of the Prophets is described using language associated with the house of the Lord. For Ashton, there is a profound relationship between education and spiritual development.

When people learn truth through the Holy Ghost, they do not merely accumulate information. They change.

They become more capable.

They gain confidence.

They learn to act on truth.

And as truth becomes part of who they are, education becomes part of the process of becoming more like Heavenly Father.

As the conversation puts it, this is ultimately bigger than school.

It is about exaltation.

How BYU-Pathway Is Strengthening Church Leadership Around the World

The effects described in the interview are already visible in Church leadership.

Ashton says BYU-Pathway examined bishoprics and branch presidencies throughout Africa and found that just over 33 percent of the members of those presidencies had participated in BYU-Pathway.

Among stake presidencies, he reports the number was approximately 51 percent.

That suggests a significant relationship between education, gospel learning, personal development, and the capacity to serve.

Education can help a member gain confidence, communication skills, organizational ability, economic stability, and a deeper testimony. Those blessings can strengthen the person’s ability to lead in a home, ward, branch, stake, community, or nation.

Ashton connects this directly to the growth of the restored Church: stronger local leaders can help more people come unto Christ, receive saving ordinances, and make covenants with God.

BYU-Pathway Worldwide and the Future of the Global Church

Ashton repeatedly emphasizes that he does not see the growth of BYU-Pathway simply as the result of organizational brilliance.

He says:

“The Lord’s doing it.”

He points to circumstances that have converged in remarkable ways: widespread internet access, the normalization of remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic, scalable online education, growing international employment opportunities, Church infrastructure, and increasing demand for education.

BYU-Pathway has also expanded language accessibility. Ashton discusses launching a Portuguese program and the resulting growth in Brazil.

He says BYU-Pathway operates in more than 180 countries, with approval to operate in even more, though some nations may have only a handful of students at a given time.

Could BYU-Pathway Affect Entire National Economies?

The vision is not limited to individual salaries.

Ashton describes a conversation with the prime minister of Tonga about what hundreds or thousands of remote jobs could mean for a country with a relatively small population and limited local industry.

If enough people gain skills and obtain remote jobs that bring outside income into a small economy, the impact can eventually become visible at a national level.

But even when discussing large numbers, Ashton continually returns to individuals.

BYU-Pathway Is Ultimately About “The One”

Near the end of the interview, Steven Jones mentions BYU-Pathway approaching 100,000 students. Ashton acknowledges the significance of the milestone but quickly redirects the emphasis.

“It’s about the one.”

He connects this with the Savior’s ministry in the Book of Mormon, when people came to Jesus Christ one by one.

That principle may be the clearest way to understand the entire interview.

Numbers matter because numbers represent people. A hundred thousand students means a hundred thousand individual stories, struggles, families, testimonies, and futures.

The goal is not growth merely for the sake of institutional growth. It is changing individual lives so those individuals can bless other lives and, above all, come unto Jesus Christ.

How Can Latter-day Saints Help BYU-Pathway Students?

The interview also offers practical ways for people to participate in the work.

Ashton explains that students often need more than tuition assistance. Many need access to people who have already navigated education, business, employment, and gospel-centered family life.

He describes gatherings where successful couples sit with BYU-Pathway students and simply answer their questions. Students have told him those conversations were life-changing because they had never before spoken personally with someone who had successfully navigated a professional career.

Ways people can help include:

• Serving as BYU-Pathway missionaries.
• Helping lead or mentor PathwayConnect gatherings.
• Mentoring entrepreneurs.
• Helping students practice English.
• Hiring qualified BYU-Pathway students for remote work.
• Supporting access to computers and educational resources.
• Mentoring first-generation college students.
• Using professional experience to create opportunities for students.
• Seeking personal revelation about other ways to contribute.

Ashton references the principle in Doctrine and Covenants 58 of being “anxiously engaged in a good cause.” Rather than prescribing only one method of helping, he encourages people to pray and ask Heavenly Father how their particular abilities and resources might contribute.

Brian K. Ashton’s Testimony of Living Prophets and Jesus Christ

The interview concludes not with statistics about education but with testimony.

Ashton says one of the great lessons he has learned through this work is how deeply Heavenly Father loves His children.

He describes God as having high expectations for His children while also walking beside them, understanding their limitations, and helping them progress.

“If we want to learn, if we want to grow, if we want to progress, He’s always there to help us.”

Ashton then bears testimony of another principle he considers essential to Church education: living prophets and apostles.

He explains that the governing board of Church education includes the First Presidency and other senior Church leaders and says he regularly witnesses prophetic keys being exercised.

His concluding witness is direct: the Church is led by prophets, Jesus Christ stands at the head of His Church, and God loves His children and is working to bring them home.

Why BYU-Pathway Worldwide Matters to the Gathering of Israel

BYU-Pathway Worldwide, as presented in this interview, is ultimately about much more than inexpensive online college courses. It represents an effort to unite spiritual and temporal development in the lives of God’s children.

A student gains an education. That education creates employable skills. Employment helps stabilize a family. Stability makes service and temple worship more accessible. Children grow up with greater opportunity. Local congregations gain capable leaders. Communities gain educated workers and entrepreneurs. Graduates then reach backward and lift someone else.

Grace Nsima’s story embodies that pattern. She wanted a chance. Once she received one, she did not simply use it to escape hardship. She became capable of giving other people chances.

That is why the scriptural word “established” becomes so meaningful throughout this conversation.

The Lord’s work is not merely about moving people from difficult places to prosperous places. It includes establishing covenant disciples throughout the world—helping them gain truth, education, priesthood leadership, temples, employment, strong families, hope, and the capacity to build Zion wherever God has planted them.

The result is a deeply faith-affirming picture of education. Learning can become part of gathering Israel, strengthening families, building the Church, and preparing the earth for the return of Jesus Christ.

And underneath the large numbers, international programs, remote jobs, and ambitious vision remains the Savior’s pattern:

One person at a time.