Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Illinois)

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Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) is an independent, residential, liberal arts university. Illinois Wesleyan is a private co-educational university with an enrollment of 2,137 and a student/faculty ratio of 12 to 1.

The University consists of the College of Liberal Arts, with 17 academic departments; the College of Fine Arts, comprising professional Schools of Art, Music, and Theatre Arts; and the School of Nursing. It is renowned for its Hispanic Studies department. Illinois Wesleyan’s campus occupies more than 70 acres (280,000 m2) in the heart of Bloomington in central Illinois.

IWU was founded in 1850 by 30 civic and Methodist Church leaders with the goal of establishing "an Institution of learning of Collegiate grade". The central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854, with the first building constructed in the same year. The University taught solely preparatory classes from 1850 until 1919; college classes began in 1851. IWU is categorized by the Carnegie Commission as one of America's 162 liberal arts colleges.