Apply for an Alumni Educational Pilgrimage

Dates: October 4 – October 15

This application is for the Fall 2026 Alumni tours to the Holy Land.

Dates: October 4 – October 15th

You should plan to leave the US by September 29th or 30th to arrive in time.

October 15th will be a free day, so you can go home at any time that day, but you must leave the Jerusalem Center by 5 pm.

Price: $2500 per person + participants arrange and pay for their own airfare

(includes lodging, tips, all food –excluding a couple lunches on your free days and transportation to and from the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport)

Accommodations: BYU Jerusalem Center and 3 nights at Ein Gev Holiday Resort on the Sea of Galilee

This application for the Fall 2026 tours is opened until July 30th.

Applicants will find out about acceptance for this tour by August 7th 2026.

Only those with passports valid until 6 months after completion of travel will be considered for the May and June programs. There are often many applicants, so please keep in mind that you may not be selected the first time you try. But, you never know!

Email questions to: April Cobb, chair@byujerusalemalumni.com, but please read the whole application and restrictions at the bottom of the page before asking questions.

All participants on these tours must be healthy and physically fit enough to climb at least 50 flights of stairs and walk 6-10 miles on some days. This is not an appropriate tour for anyone with mobility issues. There is no work around.

Most available rooms in the Jerusalem Center are on the 2nd – 4th floors with the main level being on the 8th floor. There are no elevators to the lower parts of the building. The old city streets and tels at various sites are not accommodating for those who need assistance due to mobility issues. Please do not submit an application if this would cause issues for you or a person that you wish to bring with you.

Please read the current Jerusalem Center policies before applying to go on this program. All alumni and guests who go on our tours must commit to abide by the policies that the Jerusalem Center students agree to. This includes the non-proselytizing agreement and a very strict dress code while in the Jerusalem Center and in Jerusalem.

Things To Keep In Mind

  • These are not reunion trips for individual semesters

    We are asked often if semesters can come together as a reunion trip. There are so few available rooms that we will not be accommodating reunions at this time. These educational programs are for individuals who are open to connecting to alumni from other semesters.

  • Alumni cannot apply in groups

    Applicants will be considered as individuals with their guest, except in circumstances that involve alumni who are willing to share a bathroom OR  a student dorm with another alumni and their guest that they wish to bring. If several people from one family are alumni and they wish to come together, they will only be considered as individuals. Groups will not be accepted together.

  • There is not unlimited availability on tours

    As of now, we have 18 Jerusalem Center rooms available to us for two tours per year. (For now, those trips are typically in the spring and fall.) Alumni educational programs are usually in the Center during the student programs. Space is very limited. We are sorry that we can not accommodate more alumni and guests, but for now we are making these programs possible for as many people as we can.

  • These are not family trips

    Spouses can come on this trip together. An alumni can bring their friend, sister, or other family member; but the tours are not suited to children.

  • Parents and Grandparents cannot take these tours while their student is on the Jerusalem Center Program

    If you are accepted to one of our trips and then find out that your child or grandchild is going to be on the student program during that tour, you must let us know and will be given a raincheck to another tour when you do not have a student in the Center. No exceptions.

Watch This To See The Terrain and Understand That the Amount of Walking May Be Extensive On Some Days.

Alumni can use this form to apply for the opportunity to go on an educational pilgrimage to the Holy Land with other members of the BYU Jerusalem Center Alumni organization for the Fall 2026. Those accepted will have the opportunity to stay at the BYU Jerusalem Center. Please keep in mind that these questions will help us form a pool of participants to choose from to make the best use of the small number of rooms we have been given. Answers to the questions will also save volunteers time later in tracking down necessary information for participants. None of this information is requested out of curiosity. The information is requested to save you time later from filling out multiple forms. Incomplete forms will not be considered. At least explain why you are not able or are unwilling to answer a question so we understand.

Collect your documents and responses in advance and save them somewhere, then fill out your application all at once. There is no option to save this form as a draft. (We aren’t that fancy.)

APPLICATION

Consider that if you aren't up to this, it will place burden upon and slow down all others who are on the tour. Please be fair to those who are working hard and have dreamed to have this opportunity.
(two separate rooms with a connecting Jack and Jill bathroom.) There are locks on the doors on both sides of the bathroom.
If you are only willing to share a bathroom with a couple you know, and that couple doesn't apply or isn't serious about coming, answering yes to this question will not help.
If your travel companion is an alumni of the JC program, which semester did they attend?
(Keep in mind that they must be at least 30 years old.)
(Everyone on the tour with your travel companion will know very quickly whether you were honest in answering this question.)
Example: Jane - Small (alumna), John - XL (guest)
(volunteer, attended specific activities, submitted a story or information for the website, etc...) Also indicate if you have ever put on a reunion for your semester or have done other things to bring your semester together. If you have no history with the Jerusalem Center Alumni, please explore the website and watch the many videos and programs we have created. Please take the time to understand the history of the Jerusalem Center and take the time to watch our events online from the events section of the website. Providing tours for alumni is not appealing for the volunteers when the alumni going are not interested or invested in the Jerusalem Center Alumni organization itself.
If you can apply for a new passport immediately and get the new passport image to us by September 1st, we will consider your application. We will fill your spot with someone else if you do not get a renewed passport by 9/1.
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload You can upload up to 2 files.
.jpg, .gif or .png... no PDFs or other file types. This form may not accept jpeg files that have a .jpeg. It must be .jpg. Many iPhones default to a HEIC format. If you take a screenshot of that HEIC, it should be a .png and will work.
(particularly things that come in handy when traveling like: singing or leading music, professional photography, skilled at videography, spreadsheets and organization, physician or nurse, etc...) We do not need anyone to teach lessons, workshops or guide. We have that covered.
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload You can upload up to 2 files.
Please upload a headshot of yourself. If you are bringing a travel companion, please also upload a picture of that person as well. These images will be used in a directory if you go on this trip. Accepted files: jpg. or png. file types only. (Head and shoulders only) Many iPhones default to a HEIC format. If you take a screenshot of that HEIC, it should be a .png and will work.