That also meant turning the university over to the state to make sure "they didn't have any church control of the public university," Wilson said. Still, he adds, U. presidents were Mormons — often church authorities — until the early 1930s. The first non-LDS U. president was Art Smith in 1991.

Funding education

Around the time of statehood in 1896, however, the LDS Church did maintain a select few private schools, called "academies," Wilson said.

By 1910, most LDS youths attended public high schools, and released time, often called "seminary" today, was created to fill the religious education role, Berrett writes.

Indeed, by 1920, the success of released time (today enrolling 82,687 students, or more than 58 percent of the state's public high school students) led to the LDS Church closing up to eight academies, Berrett writes.

Brigham Young, Weber, Dixie, Ricks and Snow academies were turned into higher-education institutions still owned by the LDS Church, Berrett writes.

But at the onset of the Great Depression, church leaders decided, "We can't fund all this education, even the higher education,' " Wilson said.

The church turned over its junior colleges, Weber, Dixie and Snow, to the state, Berrett writes, but kept control of BYU, LDS Business College and Ricks College, now renamed BYU-Idaho.

Still, Sister Catherine, whose church operates universities and schools worldwide, is curious as to why the LDS Church, especially in predominantly Mormon Utah, stays out of the private realm.

"I've always wondered, myself," she said, adding maybe 2 percent of Utah Catholic Schools' students are LDS.

Eyring cites historic financial reasons.

"Providing elementary and secondary education for all of our members across the world would be extremely expensive. There are other uses for the financial resources of the church. . . . The church is always extremely sensitive to see that the tithes of the members are used judiciously," Eyring said.

The LDS Church does sponsor a handful of elementary and secondary schools in Mexico and the Pacific islands. Still, Eyring doesn't predict a change in policy when it comes to schools in the United States.

"As the church grows across the earth, there might arise situations where substantial numbers of members of the church (do) not have access to public education," Eyring said. "Those situations would be evaluated by the Board of Education of the church according to the merits of each case."

Private ventures

Members of the LDS Church, however, have gone on their own to sponsor private schools with an LDS theological focus.

For instance, Utah is home to seven "Kimber Academy" locations, with the main campus in Murray and a new location in North Logan, said the Cache Valley school's administrator, Tom Persian.

It also is home to Deseret Academy, which could benefit from church sponsorship. The school has struggled financially and is being sued by the Granite School District for more than $30,000 in back rent and utilities payments for a period when it occupied the vacated Holladay Elementary building.

While the LDS Church has made clear it does not sponsor the private business ventures of its members, Persian notes emeritus members of church hierarchy have dedicated and said they approve of his school.

"I would love to have the church have an educational system in all the stake buildings," Persian said. "However, it hasn't come to that point yet."

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