What are the best colleges and universities in Indiana if you reward schools for making the best use of their limited resources? Academic Stewardship asks how effectively schools manage their financial and human resources to gain the influence that makes them academically excellent. Schools that are exemplary in Academic Stewardship are doing everything in their power to help students and faculty achieve their full potential.
Colleges and universities in Indiana deserve to be recognized when they do more with less. It’s impressive when a large wealthy school can spend money lavishly on expensive buildings and programs. But it’s even more impressive when a small school with limited means is able to train and inspire students that the larger wealthier schools tend to ignore.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities reported in late 2021 that almost 75 percent of higher-education professionals at US colleges and universities felt financial constraints prevented their schools from effectively attracting students. Distracted by the size and amenities of larger schools, prospective students tended especially to be overawed by the big research universities.
Indiana’s smaller colleges, especially its liberal arts colleges, need effective ways of communicating their value to a world that celebrates “bigger is better” and “you need the best.” Unfortunately, most college ranking companies, such as U.S. News & World Report, define “best” in a way that devalues schools with smaller budgets and fewer students even when these schools do remarkable work in advancing their students’ education. By and large, college rankings penalize schools that serve underserved populations.
Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell, who for years now has criticized conventional college rankings for misrepresenting what’s good and valuable in education, we decided to construct a new ranking metric that highlights those schools that do more with less. That metric—called the Academic Stewardship metric—takes away both the size and the wealth advantage of schools, and focuses instead on how well schools use the resources available to them to advance the education of their students.
As a metric, Academic Stewardship is defined by a precise mathematical formula, which can be found in our Academic Stewardship white paper. Measuring the Academic Stewardship of Indiana’s colleges requires measuring two forms of stewardship: 1) Stewardship of financial resources (using the money they have responsibility without waste) and 2) Stewardship of human resources (doing their best to help students, faculty, and administration to flourish). Together, these two types of stewardship form what we call Academic Stewardship. If you want to learn more about the factors involved in Academic Stewardship, click the more button below.
Academic Stewardship as so defined is connected to keeping tuition and other costs down, but it should not be confused with affordability or frugality. The schools that this metric ranks as exemplary academic stewards tend to be all over the map when it comes to tuition and other costs. At issue is the influence of schools given the financial and human resources they have on hand. If a school is going to charge more for tuition, then that needs to be reflected in the school having proportionately greater influence.
The benefits of attending a school with strong academic stewardship include:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
63%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1108/25
Goshen College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
67%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1235/26
Earlham College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
75%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/26
Wabash College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$40K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
72%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
Hanover College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$54K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
87%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1245/26
DePauw University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$48K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
81%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/25
Saint Mary's College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
45%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/20
Indiana University East’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$40K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
67%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1189/26
University of Evansville’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
78%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1195/25
Taylor University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
65%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1180/25
Valparaiso University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$29K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
72%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1125/23
Indiana Wesleyan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
61%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/24
Trine University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
41%
Student body
10K
Indiana State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$43K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
82%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/27
Butler University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
28%
Student body
8K
Vincennes University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$59K
Acceptance
19%
Graduation
97%
Student body
13K
Median SAT/ACT
1475/33
University of Notre Dame’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
67%
Student body
20K
Ball State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
83%
Student body
43K
Median SAT/ACT
1315/28
Purdue University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
80%
Student body
41K
Median SAT/ACT
1255/27
Indiana University Bloomington’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
52%
Student body
24K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/22
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Among Indiana’s schools are some well-known colleges and universities, including the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, and Butler University. While tuition and student population vary greatly among these schools, each boasts a high graduation rate. The state’s largest public university, Indiana University Bloomington, also notes a high graduation rate for its roughly 40,000 students and offers tuition just above the national average at $11,000.
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Additionally, students hoping to attend a school with a religious affiliation have nearly 30 options to choose from. Students at these schools can study areas like engineering, business, philosophy, religious studies, and law. Indiana offers loan forgiveness programs for health care workers who work in areas with labor shortages as well as for lawyers providing public legal aid. Additionally, graduates of Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law pursuing public interest law can apply for a special grant program that will help cover the cost of preparing and sitting for the bar exam.
With town names like Popcorn and Santa Claus, it is clear Indiana is no stranger to a good time. Along with these unique towns, Indiana also hosts the Indianapolis 500, a long-distance auto race; boasts a thriving art scene; and has been home to iconic celebrities, including Larry Bird, James Dean, and David Letterman. Students wanting to experience all Indiana has to offer while studying have the option of attending one of Indiana’s more than 50 higher education institutes.
Explore Indiana’s more than 50 colleges and universities to find a program and future career path that’s right for you.