Founded in 1859 as one of the first co-educational colleges in the United States, Valparaiso University (Valpo) is based in the city of the same name based in northern Indiana, fifteen miles from Lake Michigan. It is affiliated with the Lutheran church, and its motto translates as ‘in Thy light, we see light’.

Undergraduate study is divided between the schools and colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business, Engineering, Law, and Nursing & Health Professions. At honours school Christ College, 100% of its red med schools have been accepted into a medical school. There are also over 25 graduate courses at Valpo, offering nationally accredited courses in nursing, psychology, and business.

The University Centre for the Arts is an expansive facility, which includes the Bach Institute, dedicated to performances promoting the music and theology of the great composer, and the Brauer Museum of Art, which contains nationally recognised body of American art dating from the 19th century to the present day.

Athletics teams are known as the Crusaders, and compete in the NCAA Division I. There are a total of nine men’s sports programmes and ten women’s sports programmes, as well as a cheerleading squad and women’s dance team. American football has been played at Brown Field since 1919, and can seat up to 5,000 spectators.

Under Secretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson, actor and screenwriter John Lutz, actress Beulah Bondi, broadcaster Lowell Thomas, and progressive senator George W. Norris are all alumni of Valpo.

Over a third of all undergraduate students will study abroad, one of the highest rates at any higher learning institution in the United States. Previous students have studied at international programmes in all four continents outside North America, and the university has dedicated Study Centres in England, Germany, Costa Rica, and China.