Trine University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Angola, Indiana Angola is a city in Pleasant Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,612 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Steuben County. Angola was founded by Thomas Gale and Cornelius Gilmore on June 28, 1838, ...

, and

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

, with education centers in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Phoenix and

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Rest ...

. It was founded in 1884 and is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

History

"Tri-State Normal College" was established in 1884. For more than 120 years its name was derived from and referred to the "tri-state" area because of its location in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

with proximity to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. In 1906, the school name was shortened to "Tri-State College", and in 1975 it became "Tri-State University". In 2008, the school's name was changed to "Trine University" to honor alumni and significant donors, Ralph Trine and his wife Sheri. The dropping of the "tri-state" identifier reflected a desire to brand the school as a nationally competitive private university, not to be mistaken for state-funded or associated with businesses or organizations nationwide also using the term "tri-state". During the 1990s, the university opened several education centers throughout northern and central Indiana. Those education center programs were eventually moved to online. The school served its regional population, first as a teachers and engineering school with flexible evening and weekend courses and then broadening into a multidisciplinary institution with an expansion of daytime classes, an athletics program and more robust student life offerings. On June 1, 1963, Tri-State succeeded in achieving its initial

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is Quality assurance, assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions mad ...

. It has remained an accredited institution since that time, most recently extending its Level V accreditation until the next (2026) evaluation visit. Further, the Ketner School of Business was reaffirmed by the

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), formerly the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, is a United States–based organization offering accreditation services to business programs focused on te ...

(ACBSP) on February 26, 2019.School growt
catalogued by the school's website
Accessed 28 Oct 2020. In 2002 the school joined the

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division III (NCAA), Division III. There are nine ...

(MIAA), and, coinciding with the opening of the $650,000 Ketner Sports Complex, Tri-State attained

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

provisional membership. Already with over 100 years of teaching engineering courses, in 2005 the university graduated its first class of Master of Science in Engineering Technology students.

Campus

Trine’s

, campus covers 450 acres (1.8 km²). Campus facilities have been greatly expanded since 2000, with more than $176 million invested in building projects during that time. In addition to multiple residential facilities, recent additions have included the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts, a music education and concert venue, the Thunder Ice Arena, which allowed the university to launch hockey and skating teams and offer community skating programs, the MTI Center, serving basketball, bowling and esports, and the Steel Dynamics Inc. Center for Engineering and Computing. The university has also expanded Best Hall of Science twice since 2016 to accommodate its growing number of health sciences students. Trine’s College of Health Professions is currently located in

, at 1818/1819 Carew Street on the Parkview Hospital Randallia Campus. The university has raised more than $20 million for a new Fort Wayne location to house the College of Health Professions. The new facility, scheduled to open in fall 2024, will be located near Parkview Regional Medical Center. The university’s

Education Center is located at 999 Republic Drive, Suite 200, Allen Park. The Phoenix Education Center is located at the Maricopa County Medical Society Building, 326 E Coronado Road,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. The Reston Education Center is located at 1881 Campus Commons Drive. The sites offer students the opportunity to earn a

master’s degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practi ...

through Trine University in a hybrid format.

Academics

Trine offers

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s, and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in more than 50 fields of study (39 traditional undergraduate degrees) and has a 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio. For more than 100 years after the founding of its engineering school in 1902, the university focused heavily on engineering education, and engineering majors still make up more than 40 percent of its student body. Trine continues to expand its engineering and technology programs, most recently adding majors in

mechatronics Mechatronics engineering, also called mechatronics, is the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems employing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering, and also ...

and robotics and extended reality. The university also launched the Trine Center for Technical Training in fall 2022 to provide technical training and professional development to area businesses, workers and students. In addition to undergraduate programs on its Angola campus and health professions programs in Fort Wayne, the university offers graduate degrees at its Detroit and Phoenix education centers. It also offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the broad categories of business administration, engineering and technology, general students, healthcare, leadership and justice and psychology through TrineOnline. Its most popular undergraduate majors, by 2021 graduates, were: *

Exercise Science Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

and

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

(53) * Design Engineering Technology (49) *

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

(33) *

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

(30) *

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

(28) * Criminal Justice/Safety Studies (23) *

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

(22) *

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

(21) *

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

(21)

Accreditation

Trine University is

by the

. Several individual programs are also accredited by programmatic accreditors: *

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

ABET ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied ...

* Teacher preparation:

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is a professional accreditor focused on accrediting teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. It was founded in 2013 as a result of the merger of two predecesso ...

Business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

(associate and bachelor’s), associate in

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

Physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) is the agency recognized by the United States Department of Education for granting accreditation status to entry-level education programs for physical therapists and physical ther ...

Physician assistant studies A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis a ...

: Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant * RN-BSN:

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is a nursing education accrediting agency in the United States. The CCNE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The commission's headquarters are in Washington, D.C. CCNE acc ...

* Surgical Technology:

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) is an accreditation agency for postsecondary education programs in 30 health science fields. Programmatic accreditation is granted after an education program is reviewed and ...

Student life

More than 2,200 students live on the

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

campus which hosts approximately 60 varied campus groups from professional or major-specific clubs, recreational sports, religiously affiliated groups, and an array of hobby or interest clubs. The university has seen significant growth in the number of its residential students, currently boasting more than four times as many students living on campus as it had in 2000. As a result, the university has added several newer residential facilities, including the Golf Course Apartments, Villas, Reiners and Stadium Halls, and Fabiani Hall. In addition, upperclass students have the option of living in Greek housing or Christian Campus House facilities. The university boasts a very active Greek community.

Athletics

The Trine athletic teams are called the Thunder. The university is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

(MIAA) since the 2004–05 academic year. The Thunder previously competed as an NCAA D-III Independent during the 2003–04 school year; in the

Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. The conference consists of twelve colleges and u ...

(WHAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1992–93 to 2002–03; and in the NAIA's Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC; now currently known as the Crossroads League since the 2012–13 school year) from 1959–60 to 1980–81. Trine competes in 36 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and wrestling; while women's sports include acrobatics & tumbling, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, triathlon, volleyball, and wrestling. Trine University athletic teams have won or been finalists for several national titles. In 2021, the women’s triathlon team won the DIII title in the Women’s Triathlon Collegiate National Championships. In 2024, Trine won the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship. On June 7, 2023, the Trine University softball team finished the season as the NCAA Division III National Champion, defeating Salisbury 1-0 on a walk-off RBI. In 2022, the women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four and the softball team finished second in NCAA Division III.

Ice hockey

Trine added men's and women's hockey as varsity sports in the fall of 2017. The programs are housed in the Thunder Ice Arena, which also opened in 2017. Trine’s

teams compete in the

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-o ...

Men's volleyball

Men's volleyball, which had last played at the varsity level in 2002, returned to full varsity status for the 2019 season (2018–19 school year) and plays in the

Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. History The MCVL was founded in March 2014 by a ...

Facilities

Trine's Zollner Golf Course, which has been part of the university since 1971, hosted the 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Golf National Championships. The course was named the sixth-best collegiate course in the nation by Golf Advisor in 2020. The university’s other athletic facilities include: * Zollner Stadium and Shive Field (football, lacrosse and rugby) * Jannen Field (baseball) * SportONE/Parkview Softball Field * Weaver Field (soccer) * Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Inc. Athletic and Recreation (indoor track and field; indoor practice facility for tennis, baseball and softball) * Hershey Hall (volleyball and wrestling) * MTI Center (basketball, bowling and e-sports) * Ryan Tennis Center

Notable alumni

Brett Halliday Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 – February 4, 1977) is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissi ...

– author *

Lewis Blaine Hershey Lewis Blaine Hershey (12 September 1893 – 20 May 1977) was a United States Army General (United States), general who served as the 2nd Director of the Selective Service System, the means by which the United States administers its military consc ...

- United States Army general and second Director of the Selective Service System *

Ralph Ketner Ralph Wright Ketner (September 20, 1920 – May 29, 2016) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of Food Lion (which was founded as Food Town) in 1957. Early life Ketner was born in Rimertown, North Carolina, on Sep ...

– co-founder of Food Town, later to become

Food Lion Food Lion is an American regional supermarket Chain store, chain headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates over 1,000 supermarkets in 10 states: Delaware, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsyl ...

Shaziman Abu Mansor Shaziman bin Abu Mansor ( Jawi: شاه عظيمان بن ابو منصور; born 20 January 1964) is a Malaysian politician, a prominent member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coali ...

- Malaysian politician * John J. McKetta – chemical engineer *

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian National Army of Colombia, army general, civil engineer and politician who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia in a military dictatorship f ...

– Colombia army general and 19th

President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

* Joe Schroeder – Olympic rugby player

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Private universities and colleges in Indiana Universities and colleges established in 1884 Education in Fort Wayne, Indiana Education in Steuben County, Indiana Education in St. Joseph County, Indiana Education in Lake County, Indiana Education in Maricopa County, Arizona Buildings and structures in Steuben County, Indiana Merrillville, Indiana 1884 establishments in Indiana