Butler University is a private liberal arts university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded by abolitionist and attorney Ovid Butler in 1855. It serves over 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 60 degree programs through five colleges: Business Administration, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the Jordan College of Fine Arts.
North Western Christian University was the name when the school opened on November 1, 1855, at what is now 13th and College, with no president, 2 professors, and 20 students. In 1875, the university moved to a 25-acre campus in Irvington. It was there that the school was renamed Butler University "in recognition of Ovid Butler's inspirational vision, determined leadership, and financial support." In 1922, they purchased Fairview Park, and in 1928, moved their campus to the current Fairview location. The campus consists of 31 buildings covering an area of 290 acres (1.2 km²).
Bobby Fong is the president of Butler. National guides give Butler high marks for academic quality with an emphasis on the liberal arts and sciences. Butler ranks 4th in the US News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2008 for Top Midwestern Master's Universities. The university emphasizes practicality of knowledge. Butler University offers individual attention to its students with its small class size and no teaching assistants. Butler University has increased its focus on research with the Butler Summer Institute, a 10 week program where Butler students are granted funding to perform independent research with a faculty member. Butler's tuition, room and board total $36,440 annually.
From 1950 until 1993 Butler University owned and operated, what was at one point, the largest student-run radio station, WAJC. It had a classical format, and existed on 91.9fm, then moved to 104.5fm in 1956. In 1993 Butler sold the station and used part of the seven million dollars earned through the sale to upgrade the Telecommunications major and improve a donated building on Illinois Street to support the program. The School started WTBU, a PBS affiliate, on channel 69. Though Butler has schools for dance, music, and theater, it never developed or showed its own original content on channel 69. After competing for years with WFYI for PBS audiences, in 1999 then president Geoffrey Bannister then signed agreement to operate under a joint operating agreement, which eventually saw WFYI absorb control of the station, leaving Butler to run the academics. In 2001 New Butler President Bobby Fong opened the Telecommunications building on Butler's campus, and almost simultaneously announced the sale of the traditional broadcast station to Telemundo, moving WTBU to a cable-based campus-only broadcaster. The Telecommunications Arts program was renamed "Media Arts" in 2004 although the focus stayed on broadcast skills, including audio production.
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| Percent of Students International: | 2% |
| On-Campus Housing Available: | Yes |
| Percent of Students Living On-Campus: | 39% |
| Freshman Students Required to Live on Campus: | No |
| Member of: | NAA, NCAA |
| Sports Include: |
Football (Pioneer Football League) Basketball (Horizon League) Baseball (Horizon League) Track (Horizon League) |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | Expenses | ||
Published Tuition and Fees: |
$ 23,774 | ||
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 23,530 | ||
Required Fees for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 244 | ||
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 3,484 | 12% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 4,325 | 20% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 9,314 | 88% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 3,723 | 60% | |
Any Aid: |
93% |
| Acceptance Rate: | 72% (Selective) |
| Test Scores | |
| SAT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting SAT Scores: | 57% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Verbal: 540, Math: 540 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Verbal: 630, Math: 650 |
| ACT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting ACT Scores: | 43% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Composite: 24, Verbal: 23, Math: 23 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Composite: 29, Verbal: 29, Math: 28 |
| Application Fee: | $ 35.00 |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Recommended |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Required |
| High School GPA: | Required |
| High School Rank: | Required |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Recommended |
| TOEFL: | Required |
| Test Scores: | Required |
