Ball State University is a public research university located in Muncie, Indiana, United States. On July 25, 1917, the Ball Brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball Corporation, acquired the foreclosed Indiana Normal Institute for $35,100 and gifted the school and surrounding land to Indiana. The Indiana General Assembly accepted it in the spring of 1918, with the initial 235 students enrolling at the Indiana State Normal School–Eastern Division on June 17, 1918.

Ball State is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a high research activity university and a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.The university is composed of seven academic colleges, including the College of Architecture and Planning, the College of Communication, Information, and Media, the Miller College of Business, and Teachers College. Other academic institutions include Burris Laboratory School and the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities.

Total 2013 enrollment consists of 21,053 students, 16,652 undergraduate students and 4,401 graduate students. Ball State University students hail from 48 states, two U.S. territories, 43 countries, and every one of Indiana's 92 counties.The university offers about 180 undergraduate majors and 130 minor areas of study, 175 bachelor's, 103 master's, and 17 doctoral degrees.Ball State athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Ball State Cardinals. The university is a member of the Mid-American Conference.