Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accreditedprivate university located in the U.S. city of Valparaiso, Indiana. The University is a coed, four-year, private institution and enrolls more than 4,000 students from over 50 countries.

Covering 320 acres, Valpo’s campus is positioned one hour southeast of Chicago, and just 15 minutes from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. The town of Valparaiso is considered to be the southeasternmost suburb of the Chicago metropolitan area and has an approximate population of 31,000 residents.

Valpo consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, and a law school. It is the largest independent Lutheran university in the United States and is home to the second largest collegiate chapel in the world, The Chapel of the Resurrection.

Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was founded in 1859 as one of the first coeducation colleges in the United States. Due to reverses brought about by the Civil War, the college was forced to close its doors in 1871. Two years later it was revived by Henry Baker Brown, an educator, and was named Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute. At the turn of the 20th century, its name was changed to Valparaiso College, and shortly after it was rechartered as Valparaiso University. Initially founded by Methodists, the Lutheran University Association purchased the school in 1925 and continues to operate it today.

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