public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Terre Haute, Ind., U.S. It comprises colleges of arts and sciences, business, education, nursing, technology, and health and human performance and a graduate school. The university offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Campus facilities include an observatory, an art gallery, and nature preserves. Total enrollment exceeds 12,000.

The university was created by law in 1865, and instruction began in 1870. It was then known as the Indiana State Normal School. It began offering collegiate courses and awarded its first bachelor's degree in 1908. Graduate education at the school began in 1927. Two years later it became Indiana State Teachers College. Teachers was dropped from the name in 1961 to reflect a broadening curriculum, and the first doctoral program was instituted in 1965, the same year it became a university. Basketball star Larry Bird led the Indiana State team to the NCAA finals in 1979.