Concept
Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is a private evangelical Christian university headquartered in Marion, Indiana, and affiliated with the Wesleyan Church. It is the largest private university in Indiana. The university system includes IWU—Marion, where nearly 3,000 students are enrolled in traditional programs on the main campus in Marion and IWU-National & Global which consists of 6,800 adult learners who study online or onsite at 15 education centers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. In addition 535 graduate students are currently enrolled at Wesley Seminary. IWU offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and 57 graduate degrees including nine doctoratal degrees. Its students represent more than 80 Christian denominations and come from 11 countries. IWU's campus was known first as Marion Normal College (1890–1912) and then as Marion Normal Institute (1912–1918). In 1918, the Marion Normal Institute relocated to Muncie, Indiana, and merged with the Indiana Normal Institute. After the union failed, the buildings and grounds were purchased for the state of Indiana and formed the basis for Ball State University. Because the Indiana Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church operated the Fairmount Bible School south of Marion, local citizens asked them to move to the vacant property and open a normal school in Marion. So from 1918 to 1919 the conference raised $100,000 to endow the school, moved the Fairmount Bible School to Marion, and added a new teacher education program to become Marion College. The actual year of incorporation was 1919; however, the first classes were not offered until the fall of 1920, which became the official year of inception. From 1920 to 1988, Marion College operated as a developing liberal arts institution with growing programs, offering Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees since the first graduating class of 1921. A Master of Arts in Theology was begun in 1924 and offered continuously until 1950. Master's degree programs were initiated again in 1979 in Ministerial Education and Community Health Nursing.
