Boise State students can now earn a 'digital detox certificate' to take back control from their phones

Boise State University is taking an unusually direct approach to a distinctly modern college challenge: helping students build a healthier relationship with technology.

Students will be able to add a digital detox certificate to their degree plans starting in fall 2026, creating a formal path for those who want more control over their tech habits in a world that rarely goes offline.

What's happening?

Set to launch through the School for the Digital Future in fall 2026, the certificate can be folded into existing degree plans.

In a press release announcing the move, Boise State said College of Innovation + Design Interim Dean Jen Schneider worked with faculty members Jill Heney and Alexis Kenyon to create it.

Heney and Kenyon also developed the certificate's central course, Digital Minimalism. Boise State said the class is built around a fundamental question about life today: what should being human look like in a digital era?

Rather than urging students to reject phones, computers, or the internet, the certificate focuses on using those tools more intentionally. As Heney explained, "Digital minimalism is not about cutting all use of digital tools, because we live in this world where we need to use them."

Students pursuing the certificate will take Digital Minimalism along with six additional credits from selected classes tied to community, field work, and wellness. The course is already available for fall 2026 enrollment.

Why does it matter?

The certificate addresses a growing concern among students and adults alike. The constant notifications, endless scrolling, and the persistent sense that digital life is hard to escape. 

Kenyon pointed to research linking rising anxiety to the arrival of smartphones and social media.

"There has been a lot of research that shows a significant increase in anxiety that correlates with the launch of smartphones as well as social media," Kenyon said. "We're trying to address the anxiety that comes with constantly feeling like you're out of control because you're getting pinged from different directions."

The course introduces students to a version of life apart from technology, something many younger students have had limited experience with, while giving them space to examine how digital tools shape their attention, relationships, and daily habits.

Heney said the class discussed "the delay, buying the postcard and the postage, dropping it off, and also the delight and how it's really meaningful for the recipients." Exercises like that can help students recognize what may be lost when every interaction becomes immediate and digital.

"Your phone isn't the little boss telling you what to do," Kenyon said. "It's about how we can have agency and be the drivers of our usage."

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