When Alexandria Harrington was applying to colleges, she already knew she wanted to major in engineering.
So, she applied to Indiana’s best-known engineering schools — Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Purdue University. But Harrington also sent an application to a smaller, lesser-known program at Marian University in Indianapolis.
Though she got accepted to Rose-Hulman and Purdue, Harrington chose Marian, whose engineering program is only three years old.
While she wanted to stay close to her family in Indianapolis, Harrington saw something else she liked: an opportunity to thrive in a smaller campus community.
“It’ll be more focused,” Harrington, now a freshman, said of Marian’s program. “I feel like it’ll be better to actually work.”
And it isn’t just Marian carving out a future in Indianapolis. UIndy started an engineering program in 2017, and Butler’s planning to launch three engineering majors in fall 2026.
Students will have more options at the same time that Purdue is looking to add thousands of students to its Indianapolis campus.
But Purdue in Indy’s overall acceptance rate has dropped from 71% in fall 2024 to 52% this fall. And the acceptance rate for students from Indiana was less than 47% this year, according to university admissions data.
So, students who could have once been admitted at IUPUI may not be accepted to Purdue in Indianapolis — something that Marian University’s engineering program is keeping in mind as it continues to expand.
“We’re building our program more for students to serve the local industry,” said Binh Tran, founding dean of the Witchger School of Engineering at Marian University. “Some of the students who would normally get admitted into IUPUI were not being admitted, and so they were looking at other opportunities.”
Purdue declined to be interviewed for this story, and didn’t respond to additional requests for comment about its admissions and enrollment. But in response to an interview request, Arvind Raman, the dean of Purdue’s engineering school, said Purdue is looking to form partnerships with other Indy colleges as it expands its Indianapolis campus.
“We are eager to partner with institutions and create more pathways with other universities in the city and work is being done to create those opportunities as we continue to build out our campus operations in Indianapolis,” Raman’s statement said, in part.
Engineering beyond Purdue
At one point, Marian, Butler and UIndy all offered dual-degree engineering programs in partnership with IUPUI.
That meant students received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Purdue in addition to their degree from Butler, Marian or UIndy. Students graduated in five years.
But private colleges eventually began to look at forming their own programs. UIndy was the first to launch its R.B. Annis School of Engineering.
When forming its new college, UIndy faculty wanted students to have an experience that closely aligned with what it’s like to actually work as an engineer as early as freshman year.
That’s how the school created DesignSpine, a project-based engineering class that’s at the heart of UIndy’s engineering curriculum. Groups of students from different majors work with real clients — mostly local companies, such as Citizens Energy Group — to plan, design and build an engineering project throughout the school year.
“We want you to do things for a reason,” said Kenneth Reid, associate dean and director of the engineering school.
Similar to UIndy, Marian’s engineering administrators pride themselves on hands-on learning and small class sizes, as well as partnerships with local companies such as Allison Transmission.
Marian is also the only Catholic college in Marion County. Faith is integrated into the college’s curriculum, from discussing ethical uses of AI to how engineers can use their skills to improve the world.
“We focus on the whole body instead of just the mind,” said Daba Gedafa, dean of Marian’s engineering school, “to make sure that the students are well-rounded, honest, ethical and serve the needs of the world more than their own needs.”
The student choice
When Griffin Papoccia was looking to transfer to a four-year college after earning his associate degree from Vincennes University, he was choosing between UIndy and Purdue.
While Purdue’s reputation preceded it, Papoccia liked that at UIndy, he’d get to do an engineering project every year.
“In the long run, even though it’s a much younger program,” said Papoccia, “I think what it actually offers is better than Purdue.”
As with all college choices, there were many factors that influenced UIndy and Marian students’ choice of schools — not all related to engineering.
Some students chose Marian because of the school’s Catholic affiliation, others because they got recruited to play sports. Still others got scholarships to attend UIndy, or wanted to choose a college close to home. When future engineers look at Butler starting next year, they might be drawn to Big East basketball.
That’s not to mention the intangible sense of belonging that some students feel when they step foot on campus.
James Johnson originally wanted to go to Purdue, and applied to Purdue Polytechnic Institute. But by the time the rejection letter hit Johnson’s inbox, he was all in on Marian.
“I toured here, like three times,” said Johnson, now a first-year student at Marian, “and it just felt right.”
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Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, on most social media @clairerafford or on Signal 317-759-0429.
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