IUP is an abbreviation for Indiana Institution of Pennsylvania, which is a public research university located in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. There were 7,044 students enrolled in the university's undergraduate programme and 1,865 students enrolled in the institution's postgraduate programme as of the fall of 2021, for a total enrolment of 9,009 students. The institution is located around 89 kilometres (55 miles) northeast of Pittsburgh. A local Council of Trustees and the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education share governance responsibilities for the institution. IUP's main campus is located in Monroeville, and it also has campuses in Punxsutawney and Northpointe. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has conferred its accreditation for IUP.
IUP was originally thought of as Indiana Normal School and was founded in 1871 by investors from Indiana County. The Pennsylvania General Assembly on May 20, 1875, enacted the Normal School Act, which paved the way for the establishment of the educational institution. In accordance with the legislation, normal schools were to be created as private organisations that in no way relied on funding from the public treasury. They were only going to be considered "state" normal schools in the sense that the commonwealth would formally acknowledge their existence.
In 1875, the institution first welcomed students after modelling itself after the École Normale in France. It enrolled only 225 pupils. Every regular school activity took place inside a single facility, which also included a laboratory school for demonstrations of various teaching methods. In 1920, the authority over the institution as well as ownership of it were transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was granted the ability to confer degrees and changed its name to State Teachers College at Indiana in 1927 after being so designated by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. In 1959, the institution's name was changed to Indiana State College to reflect the growing scope of its responsibilities. In 1965, the school was granted university status, at which point it changed its name to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, abbreviated as IUP.