Name of University of Indiana's business school
Executive summary
The primary business school of Indiana University is the Kelley School of Business, a named unit that serves both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses and is widely referenced across university and accreditation materials [1] [2] [3]. The Kelley School of Business is AACSB‑accredited and consistently ranked among the nation’s top business schools, with notable MBA program rankings reported by U.S. News and other outlets [4] [5].
1. The name: Kelley School of Business — what sources say
Indiana University identifies its flagship business school as the Kelley School of Business across official university pages and program sites, which present Kelley as the umbrella for undergraduate and graduate business education at IU Bloomington and IU Indianapolis [1] [3] [2]. The Kelley name is used in institutional materials, promotional pages and program listings, establishing it as the formal, public designation for IU’s business school [1] [3].
2. Multiple campuses, one school: Bloomington and Indianapolis
Kelley is presented as a single school operating across at least two Indiana University campuses — Bloomington and Indianapolis — with administrative roles and programs structured to serve both locations under one Kelley School of Business identity [2] [3]. University historical and organizational descriptions note that the school operates with a dean’s office in Bloomington while appointing associate and executive associate deans to oversee Indianapolis programs, reinforcing the “one school, two locations” model reported by institutional histories [2] [6].
3. Accredited and ranked: quality signals attached to the name
External accreditation and ranking outlets explicitly link those credentials to the Kelley School name: the AACSB accreditation listing identifies Indiana University Bloomington/Indianapolis under the Kelley School of Business heading [4], and U.S. News and other ranking sources evaluate Kelley’s MBA and graduate programs as Kelley programs when reporting national positions and specialty strengths [5] [7]. These third‑party references help clarify that when sources discuss IU business program rankings or accreditation, they are referring to the Kelley School of Business [4] [5].
4. Historical context: how the Kelley name came to be
The business unit at Indiana University evolved from the School of Commerce and Finance (established in 1920) through several name changes before becoming the Kelley School of Business in 1997, a renaming tied to alumnus E.W. Kelley and his philanthropic support as recounted in institutional histories and retrospective accounts [6] [8]. That lineage is invoked in university histories and external profiles to explain both institutional continuity and the origin of the Kelley designation [6] [8].
5. Variants and other IU business programs — clarifying possible confusion
While Kelley is the primary, system‑level business school name, several regional IU campuses host their own business units with distinct names — for example, the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics at IU South Bend and the IU Northwest School of Business & Economics — which can cause confusion for those searching generically for “Indiana University business school” [9] [10]. Official Kelley pages and campus sites typically distinguish Kelley programs from these regional schools, and accreditation listings group Kelley under Bloomington/Indianapolis specifically [3] [4].
6. What authoritative sources explicitly state the name
The Kelley School of Business appears as the labeled business school on the official Kelley website and in university program descriptions, on the AACSB accreditation entry for Indiana University Bloomington/Indianapolis, and in widely cited rankings that evaluate Kelley’s programs, leaving no credible doubt in the reviewed reporting that “Kelley School of Business” is the formal name used by Indiana University for its principal business school [1] [4] [5].
7. Alternative framings and limitations of the reporting
Some sources emphasize particular Kelley programs (MBA, online MBA, undergraduate business) or campus‑specific offerings, which may give the impression of multiple, differently named schools; however, the reviewed materials consistently use Kelley as the overarching school name for IU’s major business programs and note separate names only for distinct regional schools not branded Kelley [7] [10]. If further confirmation is needed about internal administrative titles, recent leadership changes, or any rebranding after the dates available in these sources, those specifics are not fully documented in the supplied reporting [2].