Indiana University in the Light of History
by James H. Capshew
adapted from Indiana Alumni Magazine
When Indiana University was founded in 1820, there were fewer than 65 institutions of higher education in America; now there are more than 2,000. As one of this country’s oldest state universities, IU has grown from a tiny wilderness outpost to a major academic center. This growth echoes familiar themes in the history of American education.
IU has come a long way in nearly two centuries. What began as an idea expressed in a few words in the 1816 constitution of the new state of Indiana slowly took shape in the backwoods settlement of Bloomington after legislation was passed in 1820 for a seminary of learning. Endowed with land and little else, the Indiana State Seminary began operation a few years later with one professor and 13 students. By 1829 it had been renamed Indiana College, acquired a building and a president, and was about to send its first graduates off into the world.
Since the first graduating class of three in 1830, more than 516,000 people have earned diplomas from Indiana University. The vast majority of these alumni are alive today, a testament to the tremendous growth in student enrollment during the past 50 years. In 2009 more than 15,000 more graduates will join the alumni ranks -- matching in a single year the cumulative total of degrees awarded between 1830 and 1930.
IU has also grown well beyond the boundaries of its original site. The Bloomington campus was moved to its present location in 1884, and shortly after the turn of the century branches of the university began to be established in various Indiana cities. Today there are seven permanent campuses in addition to Bloomington, putting the university within easy reach of most of the state’s residents.
Next: The Early Years
