Overview
Kelley's History
Today, the IU Kelley School of Business operates as one school on two campuses: Bloomington and Indianapolis. Business education at Indiana University began in Bloomington more than a century ago. The first Indiana University catalog (1830-31) included a course on political economy in the curriculum. From this first course developed a Department of Political Economy, which was later renamed the Department of Economics and Social Science. Early courses in these areas grew into what is now referred to as the "core program" of study in the Kelley School of Business.
In 1902, several business courses were introduced and listed in the university catalog. A two-year "commercial course," which required two years of precommerce work in liberal arts, was established. In 1904, the first business catalog, referred to by the commercial course number, was published. These commerce courses constituted the last years of a four-year course of study leading to a baccalaureate degree. The first two years were a precommerce requirement and included all the required courses of the liberal arts curriculum of that period.
Thus was established more than a century ago the pattern of building a program of professional education for business upon a liberal arts base-a pattern maintained throughout the years and currently emphasized in the education of U.S. business professionals. In 1920, a separate School of Commerce and Finance was organized. The school became a member of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1921, and in 1933, it was renamed the School of Business Administration and placed under the direct control of its own faculty. In 1938, the name of the school was shortened to the School of Business.
The Junior Division (now the University College) of the university was established in 1942 for all first-year students. From that time until 1994, enrollment in the School of Business did not include freshmen. Graduate work in business administration, first authorized in 1936, expanded rapidly after World War II. Programs for the degrees Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Business Administration were instituted in 1947. In 1961, the designation of the area of study formerly referred to as the Graduate Division of the School of Business was changed to the Graduate School of Business. With the reorganization of the university in November 1974, the School of Business began operating at the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.
Although business courses were offered as early as 1916 on the Indianapolis campus, the bachelor's degree in business was not available at the Indianapolis campus until the 1969 merger with Purdue University. Beginning in 1969, divisional structure emerged in Indianapolis with an assistant chairperson at its head. In 1969-70, a complete undergraduate degree program for four major areas in business was offered, as well as three two-year certificate programs.
The terms "Graduate School of Business" and "undergraduate program" are used in this bulletin on appropriate occasions to designate the level of study concerned. When the term "Kelley School of Business" is used, reference is being made to the entire school, including both the Graduate School of Business and the undergraduate program on both campuses.