In 1830, Indiana College conferred diplomas to four students—the first graduating class—and took its place as a small classical college in the developing Midwest supplying higher education to those seeking to secure work as a lawyers, physicians, clergymen, or politicians, among other pursuits. The institution grew slowly, and in 1838, the Indiana legislature elevated the Indiana College to Indiana University.
As part of Indiana University’s bicentennial celebration, we present the first 200 graduates—including both traditional and honorary degree recipients. As a group, they lack racial and gender diversity, but their stories reveal, in varying combinations, human universals as well as aspects of 19th-century culture. They constitute the beginning of an alumni body that has grown increasingly diverse, now numbering over 800,000 individual degree recipients and over 950,000 degrees conferred since 1830.
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The First 200 Degrees
The Degree Compendium
Interested in who else has earned degrees from Indiana University at Bloomington? Visit the Degree Compendium!