Martin University is Indiana's only predominantly black institution (PBI) serving adult learners for nearly half a century. Founded in 1977 by Reverend Father Boniface Hardin and Sister Jane Schilling, its vision was to serve low-income, minority, and adult learners. Martin University was created, amid the inner-city barriers to academic success, to offer ordinary and disenfranchised people opportunities to change their destinies through education. The University is recognized as an institution that offers access and opportunities to persons who have been discounted, discouraged, and disregarded in the educational attainment process. Martin University is a distinctive institution that is future-oriented, interconnected, and learning-centered. The University is a non-denominational, private, liberal arts institution with over 1,500 alumni.