Ball State University – Education Redefined

At Ball State, we’re more than just educators—we’re educational entrepreneurs. Combining top-flight talent with the top-notch resources Ball State has to offer, our students and faculty inject endless energy and creativity into what they teach and how they learn. The result—a university The Princeton Review calls one of the best in the Midwest.

BREADTH + FOCUS

As a comprehensive university, Ball State offers a wealth of academic opportunities, including about 180 undergraduate majors and preprofessional programs, and more than 100 master’s and doctoral degrees. And our programs in architecture, telecommunications, landscape architecture, education, entrepreneurship, and online master’s degree in nursing are consistently ranked among the best in the nation. That excellence is due to the quality of our faculty and their commitment to teaching. More than 90 percent of our classes are taught by professors. That’s almost unheard of at an institution of Ball State’s size.

IMMERSION + EXPLORATION

Ball State believes that for an educational experience to be successful, it should be just that—an experience. So we’ve made a unique commitment to immersive learning programs that incorporate research, projects with community partners, and capstone experiences into the curriculum. Ball State students run NewsLink Indiana, a full-service media news operation serving east central Indiana. Acting, musical theatre, and telecommunications students participate in talent showcases in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Students in our Student Technology Incubator can develop and launch their own businesses, giving them a head start in the business world before they ever leave college.

IMPACT + ENGAGEMENT

Ball State is an integral part of the community and economy of Muncie and Indiana. In addition to preparing the state’s entrepreneurs, teachers, health care providers, scientists, designers, artists, and media and technology professionals, Ball State conducts projects and research that drive innovation in the state. And our Building Better Communities initiative partners students and faculty with local leaders throughout the state on development projects that make Indiana a better place to live, work, and do business.

TECHNOLOGY + INNOVATION

Emerging media are deeply ingrained in Ball State’s academic and immersive learning experiences. We’re home to the leading experts in the field, and we provide them with top-notch facilities to conduct truly groundbreaking research.

To continue our leadership in this area, Ball State is investing $17.7 million in ensuring that our students have access to innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging media across the curriculum. And our growing emphasis on new ideas, technology transfer, and commercialization provide the support faculty need to bring their ideas to market and benefit Indiana’s economy.

Admissions

You know that feeling when everything just feels right-the academics, the campus, the people. For Ball State students, that feeling goes something like this…

PROGRAMS + POSSIBILITIES

Ball State has what you’re looking for—more than 180 bachelor’s, associate, and preprofessional degree programs plus more than 76 master’s, 15 doctoral, and two specialist programs in seven academic colleges. Best of all, you get the academic opportunities of a large university with manageable class sizes that make the experience more interactive and professors who actually teach your classes instead of handing them off to their assistants.

IMMERSION + ENGAGEMENT

Ball State students don’t hide in the back of the classroom. They dig in and get their hands dirty working side by side with other students, faculty, and community partners through a process we call immersive learning. Whether it’s teleconferencing with a real business or writing and performing your own musical, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to apply what you learn to real projects. Our faculty will encourage you to take intellectual and creative risks. And if questioning and exploring is really your thing, check out our Honors College, where you can really flex your academic muscle in special seminar-style classes.

CAMPUS + COMMUNITY

No matter what you want to do, Ball State has the resources you need—television studios, computer labs, artist studios, an on-campus arboretum and greenhouse, astate-of-the-art music hall, a Digital Simulation Laboratory—to do it. And our vibrant campus is navigable and convenient. There’s no need to rely on the city bus to get you to class on time or send postcards to friends who live across campus. Our campus and community are big enough that you can lose yourself in all of the opportunities and activities, but small enough so you won’t get lost on your way to class.

Academics

It’s your education. You set the course. We’ll give you the proven tools and resources you need to get you wherever you picture yourself going. How can we be so sure you’ll succeed? Just something called 146,000 alumni. They’re out there in the world pursuing rewarding lives with confidence and creativity. Here’s how we helped them get there, and how we’ll do the same for you. The Princeton Review had good reasons to name us one of the best in the Midwest.

CHOICES + CHALLENGES

With about 180 majors–including 11 preprofessional programs–and a variety of minors and certificates, we give you choices. Lots of them. No matter what you choose, you’ll dive in deep with hands-on immersive learning opportunities. For example, you won’t just analyze the evening news, you’ll help run our professional news service through our nationally recognized broadcasting program right here on campus. You won’t just study the theories of distance teaching; through our award-winning Teachers College, you’ll work with sixth-graders in Australia via teleconferences. You won’t just learn to do; you’ll do to learn.

EXPERIENCE + OPPORTUNITY

Stretch your academic experience to the limits with numerous internship opportunities, more than50 study abroad programs, and hundreds of leadership and team-building clubs and organizations. Just take a walk across the Quad and you’ll find creative individuals, such as yourself, pursuing fulfilling activities all around you. Or if you want to step off campus, you can take part in our Building Better Communities Fellows program and work on projects like developing a marketing plan for a dress boutique or a local Chamber of Commerce. As an education major, you can provide innovative learning opportunities for Indiana children by working in a Ball State-sponsored charter school. Or if you love nature, take an intensive, two-week tropical ecology field course in Belize. And if architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning is your calling, participate in CapAsia doing things like rebuilding tsunami-destroyed homes in India and Sri Lanka. Whatever your interests and goals, we have opportunities for you.

TOOLS + TECHNOLOGY

Ball State’s professors and programs are great, but our resources and facilities are next generation, too. From on-campus green houses to our top-notch art and music facilities to our Digital Fabrication Lab to our David Letterman Communication and Media Building, Ball State has the facilities and equipment you need to do almost anything. And talk about technology—from the professors with “virtual offices” of laptops, BlackBerries, and cell phones, to our nationally recognized Global Media Network, we’re cutting-edge and up-to-date. Intel even deemed us thenation’s top wireless campus because you can camp out with a laptop just about anywhere you’d like.

Campus Life

Life as a student means there’s a lot of hard work—rewarding hard work—but in addition to class, there’s also inspiring friends and student organizations as well as events and a bunch of new experiences. In the end, you’ll be enriched with what happens outside your class schedule (and dramatically improve your time in theHomecoming Bed Race).

EVENTS + ENTERTAINMENT

With an event calendar full of attractions such as Broadway shows, NCAA Division I athletics, blues legends, Russian National Ballet performances, and professional comedians, Ball State brings excitement to Muncie that most Midwestern cities would envy, without forgoing any of that college charm. The Village, located right on the edge of campus, offers plenty of places to eat and hang out with friends. The Tally on the first floor of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center showcases comedians, bands, and other entertainers. Christy Woods arboretum and the Duck Pond are just a couple of places where you can enjoy nature; there’s also the University Green where you can take in an outdoor concert. And then there’s Late Nite, the best party on campus. Every Saturday night you can take advantage of free entertainment. Activities include everything from bowling and billiards to DJs and dancing and, of course, free food. Just keep your eye on the Flyswatter, the billboard near the Scramble Light, for upcoming events.

RESUME BOOSTERS + RECREATION

Join one of many departmental and professional organizations to network in your major and gain experience in real-world career settings. There are more than 300 student organizations to pick from. From improv comedy to worldwide health care missions, there’s likely something to pique your interest. We’ll even help you start your own group. Intramural and club sports offer plenty of opportunities to get fit, be competitive, and even show off that jumpshot. Or maybe you want to push your mind and body with lessons in salsa dancing or tae kwon do. You can do it all.

DWELLING + DINING

The more than 6,300 students who live on campus can’t be wrong—residence life is great at Ball State. Nearly 35 percent of our student body chooses to live in one of our 29 residence halls, even if “home” is fairly nearby. And our campus dining is excellent. First-year students take part in Freshman Connections, a national award-winning program, and just one reason Ball State was named one of 13 “Institutions of Excellence in the First College Year” by the national Policy Center on the First Year of College in 2003 and deemed a “program to look for” by U.S. News & World Report. The program allows freshmen to make friends and a smooth adjustment to college life through common programming. Whether it’s because they have a great study circle or a great circle of friends, students who live on campus get better grades and are more likely to graduate on time. And they get a classic college experience.

Athletics

Ball State University is committed to providing its student-athletes with all of the necessary tools to compete on the field and in the classroom, while providing the “Best Fans in the Mid-American Conference” with outstanding environments to cheer on their Cardinals.

In 2007, BSU Football’s Scheumann Stadium was reopened after a $13.6 million face lift which not only transformed the stadium into a major community asset, but also made it one of the premier venues in the Mid-American Conference.

Ball State University is expected to open new venues for Gymnastics, Soccer and Track & Field within the next few years.

In addition, Worthen Arena remains one of the top basketball and volleyball venues in the country, rating as one of the toughest places for opponents to play in both sports

Originally completed in 1967 with a capacity of 16,000 fans, Ball State’s Scheumann Stadium has grown into one of the top football facilities in the Mid-American Conference after a series of renovations including a $13.6 million update which was completed prior to the 2007 football season. The most recent renovation transformed the stadium into a major community asset, while increased its capacity to 22,500 and added permanent lighting for night games.

The 2007 renovation was funded by generous private gifts, including $4 million from former Ball State football player John Scheumann and his wife, June. Business executive Paul Kozel and his wife, Patricia, made a $1.25 million gift, while fundraising campaign chairman John Fisher and his wife, Janice, gave $510,000.

All three couples were honored with the stadium being christened the John B. And June M. Scheumann Stadium and the training center being named the John W. and Janice B. Fisher Football Training Complex. The new press box and entertainment suites are named the Paul L. and Patricia L. Kozel Communications Center.

In the final regular season game of the 2008 season, a Scheumann Stadium record 23,861 fans (including a school-record 11,088 students) saw the Cardinals record a 45-22 victory over Western Michigan to win the Mid-American Conference West Division title and finish the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record.

In addition to the single-game attendance record, the Cardinals had the best overall attendance in program history with 115,204 fans walking through the turnstiles over the course of six home games. BSU’s average attendance of 19,201 for the 2008 season ranked second in program history, trailing only the 1997 average of 20,258.

Since opening its doors in 1992, John E. Worthen Arena has proven to be one of the premiere athletic venues in the Mid-American Conference for both basketball and volleyball. Built at a cost of $29.4 million, the 11,500-seat arena was the host site for the 1992 NCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championships, as well as BSU’s first round match of the 1995 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships. Worthen Arena has also served as the temporary home for Ball State’s gymnastics team which will move into its new facility after the 2009-10 season.

Worthen Arena made its official debut Jan. 15, 1992 when the Ball State men’s & women’s basketball teams hosted Miami University in a doubleheader. The men’s game drew a sellout-crowd of 11,500 fans that would go home happy after seeing the Cardinals post a 70-64 victory over the archrival RedHawks. The game was the first of two sellouts in the arena in 1992 and the first of eight to date in the arena’s history