Indiana University East (IU East or IUE) is a public university in Richmond, Indiana, a regional campus of Indiana University that serves the eastern Indiana and western Ohio area. Established in 1971 by the Indiana University Board of Trustees, IU East enrolls over 4,000 students on its five-building, 174-acre campus and in online classes. IU East has 60 academic degree programs, offering bachelor's and master's degree programs and certificates in areas of Business and Economics, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural Science & Mathematics, Informatics, General Studies, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Social Work.
History
Indiana University East grew out of an extension established at Earlham College that was operated cooperatively by Earlham and Indiana University. In 1967, the arrangement was expanded to include Purdue and Ball State Universities and the extension became the Eastern Indiana Center of Earlham College.
In 1969, Richmond citizens formed Eastern Indiana Community College, Inc., to raise funds for the construction of a new campus. After raising more than $1 million, members of the community college organization, with the consent of the four educational institutions involved in the center, asked Indiana University to establish a regional campus in Richmond and to assume responsibility for the operation.
The Indiana General Assembly approved this plan, and on July 1, 1971, the Eastern Indiana Center of Earlham College became Indiana University East, the sixth campus in the Indiana University regional system. On October 3, 1972, ground was broken at the new campus site north of Richmond. The first building, an all-purpose academic facility, was completed in late 1974 and dedicated February 23, 1975. IU East earned its first accreditation in 1975.
The Indiana University East campus included 225 acres (0.911 km²) of land, purchased with community donations, on the northern edge of Richmond, Indiana. Of those , are for IU East and 51 acres (0.21 km²) are for other non-IU East post-secondary educational uses, such as Ivy Tech Community College.
Whitewater Hall opened in 1976 as the first of five buildings. This was followed by Hayes Hall in 1992, Middlefork Hall in 1995 (renamed Tom Raper Hall in 2009), Springwood Hall in 1999 and the Student Events and Activities Center in 2016.
Additionally, the IU East Henry County Danielson Learning Center in New Castle, Indiana was dedicated in May 1999 to serve the citizens of Henry County, Indiana. IU East offers degree programs off-campus at the Ivy Tech Community College in Lawrenceburg Riverfront Campus.
Recent chancellors include David Fulton, Nassar Paydar, Larry Richards (interim), and Kathryn Cruz-Uribe (current).
Since awarding its first bachelor's degrees in 1977, IU East has expanded its academic portfolio to include 60 bachelor's degree options and selected master's degrees. In 2017, IU East conferred its 10,000th degree.
Academics
IU East is both a traditional campus and a virtual campus with select online degree completion programs.
IU East offers over 60 degree programs at the bachelor's and master's degree levels. Forty-eight of these are conferred through Indiana University, whereas six are conferred through Purdue University.