Boise State University is turning digital burnout into a formal college credential.

Starting in fall 2026, students will be able to add a digital detox certificate to their degree plans through the School for the Digital Future. 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?

The certificate does not ask students to stop using technology. It focuses on using phones, computers and the internet more intentionally. As Heney said, “Digital minimalism is not about cutting all use of digital tools, because we live in this world where we need to use them.”

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

The program targets a problem Boise State says is affecting students and adults alike, constant notifications, endless scrolling and the feeling that digital life is hard to escape.

Kenyon said research has connected rising anxiety with 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.”

Boise State said the course gives students space to examine how digital tools shape their attention, relationships and daily habits, while also introducing them to life apart from technology.

Heney said one class discussion focused on sending postcards and “the delay, buying the postcard and the postage, dropping it off, and also the delight and how it’s really meaningful for the recipients.”

“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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