Follow
Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the United States.
The university is named after Bishop William Taylor (1821–1902). The university sits on an approximately 950 acres campus on the south side of Upland. It also preserves a 680 acres arboretum and an additional 668 acres of undeveloped land northeast of campus which has 80 acres more of arboretum space.
As of 2022, Taylor University has 1,798 undergraduate students, 33 graduate students, and 395 distance learning students. The student body hails from 38 states and 26 foreign countries, with 44 percent from Indiana. Taylor is a member of NAIA with 16 men's and women's sports teams. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Christian College Consortium.
In 1846, Taylor University was originally established as Fort Wayne Female College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the first full year of the school, about 100 women were enrolled, paying $22.50 per year. During this time, it was common for women to obtain an M.E.L. degree, the Mistress of English Literature. Fort Wayne Female College was founded by the Methodist Church as an all-female school.
In 1850, Fort Wayne Female College started admitting men coeducationally and changed its name to Fort Wayne College.
In 1890, Fort Wayne College acquired the former facilities of nearby Fort Wayne Medical College that were vacated after Fort Wayne Medical College's merger with Indiana Asbury College, another Methodist-affiliated college. Upon completing this acquisition, Fort Wayne College changed its name to Taylor University in honor of Bishop William Taylor. The original Taylor University campus was on College Street in Fort Wayne.
In 1882, a guest-preaching engagement in the Upland Methodist Church afforded Fort Wayne College president Thaddeus Reade the chance to meet the minister of Upland Methodist Church, Rev. John C. White. Because the school was having financial difficulties at its location in Fort Wayne, White and Upland citizen J.W. Pittinger worked to bring the school to Upland.
In the spring of 1893, White negotiated an agreement between the trustees of the now-named Taylor University and the Upland Land Company. The university agreed to move to Upland, Indiana, and the company agreed to provide Taylor with $10,000 in cash and 10 acres of land. That summer, Taylor University relocated to Upland. White was able to find the resources to support Taylor University because of the recent discovery of large deposits of natural gas in the area.
In 1915, Taylor paid seven thousand dollars to purchase 70 acres more from Charles H. and Bertha Snyder.
Early in the 1920s, the university added another 80 acres to its present location when the Lewis Jones farm was purchased. After 1922, Taylor University was no longer formally affiliated with Methodism.
In 1992, ninety-nine years after moving to Upland, Taylor University acquired Summit Christian College located in the city of Fort Wayne. The college was subsequently renamed Taylor University Fort Wayne. Summit Christian College was founded in 1904 as the Bible Training School of Fort Wayne, later becoming Fort Wayne Bible Institute, and eventually, in 1950, Fort Wayne Bible College. In 1989 the school was renamed Summit Christian College. Prior to acquisition by Taylor University, Summit Christian College was affiliated with the Missionary Church.
With the urban setting of the campus in Fort Wayne, the academic programs tended to be more vocational and its student body more non-traditional. Reflecting this, of TUFW's 1,040 member student body, approximately 224 students lived on campus with the rest commuting or taking courses online. Popular majors included Professional Writing, Biblical Studies, Christian Ministries, Education, English, and Business.
The Taylor University Fort Wayne Falcons participated in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. The school offered basketball for men and women, soccer for men and women (2008–2009 was the first year for the women's program), and women's volleyball.
On October 13, 2008, the university announced plans to discontinue traditional undergraduate programs on the Fort Wayne Campus. Programs that remained after the closure or were transitioned to the Upland campus included the MBA program, the online program, and the radio station, WBCL.