Education

The superintendent of public instruction heads the state department of education and is elected to a four-year term. The superintendent also serves as chairman of the state board of education, whose other members are appointed by the governor. School attendance is compulsory from age 7 to age 16.

The state constitution of 1816 stated that Indiana was obligated to educate all its citizens. Lack of tax revenue, however, was one of several obstacles. Caleb Mills, an educational reformer, advocated tax-supported education. The constitution of 1851 emphasized the need for a state-supported school system, but it was several decades before such a system was achieved.

Indiana University was chartered as Indiana State Seminary in 1820 at Bloomington. The name was changed to the present one in 1838. Purdue University, a land-grant institution in West Lafayette, was opened in 1874. It has become one of the nation's leading engineering schools. Indiana State University, founded as Indiana State Normal School in 1865, is at Terre Haute. Its present name was adopted in 1965. Each of these universities is publicly supported. Indiana and Purdue have various branch campuses, some of which they operate jointly. An example is Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis.