Bradley University is a nationally recognized, private university in Peoria, Ill, founded in 1897 by Lydia Moss Bradley as Bradley Polytechnic Institute. 

Through the five colleges — College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Education and Health Sciences, Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology, Foster College of Business and Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts, there are more than 100 majors and academic programs, including psychology, nursing, computer science, engineering, game design, and kinesiology. Bradley offers more than 30 graduate, doctorate and certificate programs, including online pathways in nursing, counseling, engineering, education, and more.

With ad 11:1  student to faculty ratio, all students get personalized attention from their instructors who serve as mentors throughout their academic journey.  All courses are taught by professors, not graduate assistants, and team projects and collaboration are emphasized in every area of university life. 

All students complete at least two career-ready experiences before graduation including internships, supervised research, and study abroad. Our integrated approach to learning creates opportunities for personal growth and preparation for a lifetime of achievements, applicable to any area of interest. In fact, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education continues to recognize Bradley among the top 15 schools in the U.S. for student engagement and Princeton Review ranked Bradley No. 20 Best Private School for Internships.

Bradley students participate in over 200 student organizations, including more than 60 dedicated to leadership and community service. We boast the nation’s most-winning speech program, as well as Greek life (including six of the Divine 9), 15 NCAA Division I sports, and over a dozen diverse religious organizations. 

Our Facilities

The $100M-plus Business and Engineering Convergence Center opened in 2019. The 270,000 square-foot facility unites the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology and the Foster College of Business under one roof in a visionary facility. This complex encourages innovative ways of thinking, teaching and learning to create opportunities for students and faculty to work across curriculums and participate in project-based learning activities. This development creates a new front door to the campus spurring more partnerships and community involvement while enhancing the Main Street corridor and surrounding neighborhood.

• Bradley’s second-oldest building, Westlake Hall, was transformed into a modern, LEED Gold certified learning facility, equipped with the latest technologies. The renovation expanded the building to six times its former size, from 13,500 to 85,000 square feet.
• The Markin Family Student Recreation Center offers a swimming pool, a climbing wall, exercise facilities, esports gaming rooms, and practice space for intramural sports.
• The Renaissance Coliseum is a 165,200-square foot, multi-use athletic facility. It is the primary sporting venue for women’s basketball and volleyball, as well as select men’s basketball events. The Coliseum includes the Mitchell “J.J.” Anderson Court practice facility, an athletics museum, the university's athletics hall of fame, strength and conditioning and training facilities, and student-athlete academic centers.
• Dingeldine Music Hall has been home to Bradley concerts since 1983. It houses the 440-seat Peters Recital Hall.

Built as an architectural companion to the iconic Bradley Hall, the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center is a nod to Bradley's history. Visitors can explore the university's past through displays and interactive presentations in the first floor Shaheen Halll of Pride. Residence Halls come to life in miniature models of rooms from past decades, while digital galleries highlight campus life and artifacts honor university founder Lydia Moss Bradley. The third floor is home to the Peplow Pavilion, which provides a 300-seat upscale setting for alumni reunions, wedding receptions and other special events. It looks westward over the Alumni Quad and the Harden Circle of Pride.

Bradley University provides a comfortable setting for living and learning. A beautiful 97-acre campus contains both historic buildings and state-of-the-art learning centers, and is just one mile from downtown Peoria. Surrounded by a historic residential district, the campus has restaurants and shops within walking distance as well as a wide range of campus dining options.

Graduates of Bradley do exceptionally well in their chosen careers and advanced studies, with 93% of them starting a career or grad school within six months of graduating. 

Core Values

At the heart of Bradley University is a community built upon the valued relationships we find in each other as students, staff, faculty, administrators and alumni. At the core of these relationships are the values of student success, knowledge and discovery, inclusiveness and connectivity, and excellence.

Student Success: We are a community that ensures student access to an individualized learning experience. This is characterized by broad opportunities for students to marry their passions and skills, by innovative academic programming, and by an exceptional level of engagement between students, staff and faculty, such that all students acquire the skills and dispositions essential to purposeful and productive living.

Knowledge and Discovery: We are a community that prioritizes academic excellence by nurturing critical inquiry, research, creativity and technical skills development. We work collaboratively to engage learners in high-impact practices, in scholarship, and in leadership development opportunities in order to foster lives of purpose and advance a better world.
Inclusiveness and Connectivity: We are a community that strives to contribute meaningfully to understanding and resolving the problems around us. By embracing servant leadership, purposeful civil discourse, and an inclusive identity whereby we understand that our differences are our strengths, we lend our passions and knowledge to build valued relationships with local, regional and global partners.

Excellence: We are a dynamic community committed to the continuous pursuit of excellence. As individuals, as units and across campus, we welcome mutual accountability and are strengthened by our shared, collaborative efforts to ensure that we are each exceptional and passionate stewards of Bradley University.

Nondiscrimination Notice

Bradley University prohibits sex discrimination in all programs and activities. Concerns or questions may be reported to the Title IX Coordinator. https://www.bradley.edu/legal/nondiscrimination/

FOUNDING OF BRADLEY

What had once been a large stretch of prairie-land in central Illinois became a seat of higher learning because of the remarkable courage, strength and determination of Lydia Moss Bradley.

After all her hopes, ambitions and dreams for her six children ended in their untimely deaths, Lydia and her husband, Tobias, discussed how they might use their wealth as a fitting memorial to their children. Their first idea was to establish an orphanage.

Sadly, Tobias died in May 1867 before the couple could realize their dream. Alone, Lydia devoted herself unreservedly to achieving their goal. After traveling to various institutions, she decided instead of an orphanage to found a school where young people could learn practical skills to prepare them for living in the modern world. In 1892, Lydia purchased a controlling interest in Parsons Horological School in LaPorte, Ind., the first school for watchmakers in America, and moved it to Peoria. She specified in her will how the school should expand after her death to include a classical education as well as industrial arts and home economics “… to furnish its students with the means of living an independent, industrious and useful life.”

Four years later, Dr. William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, convinced Lydia to move ahead with her plans and establish the school during her lifetime. Bradley Polytechnic Institute received its charter Nov. 13, 1896, at which time Lydia provided 17 ½ acres of land, funds for two campus buildings, laboratory equipment, library books, and annual operating expenses.

Construction moved quickly on Bradley Hall and Horology Hall (later renamed Westlake). Fourteen faculty and 150 students began classes Oct. 4, 1897 — with 500 workers still hammering away. (The Horological Department added another eight faculty and 70 students.) The formal dedication of Bradley Polytechnic Institute took place Oct. 8, 1897. Less than a year later, the institute graduated its first student, Corinne Unland.

By 1899, there were 350 pupils in the School of Arts and Sciences at Bradley, almost equally divided between men and women. Classes included biology, chemistry, food work, sewing, English, German, French, Latin, Greek, history, manual arts, drawing, mathematics and physics. Pleased with its progress, Lydia transferred the rest of her estate to the school, including nearly 1,000 different pieces of property, while reserving their use and profits during her lifetime. At Founder’s Day in 1906, she announced an additional gift to build Hewitt Gymnasium, now Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts.

Lydia died Jan. 16, 1908, at the age of 91. Her original vision continued to grow to meet the educational needs of the region. Bradley became a four-year college offering bachelor’s degrees in 1920, and a full university offering graduate programs in 1946, when it was renamed Bradley University.

Today, Bradley alumni total more than 70,000 worldwide. Prominent alumni include:
 
• Ray LaHood ’71, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, senior policy advisor for DLA Piper
• General John Shalikashvili ’58*, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Congressman Robert H. Michel ’48*, retired congressman and longest-serving Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Lillian Glass ’74, noted speech pathologist and speech communication author and speaker
• René C. Byer ’80, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, senior photographer for the Sacramento Bee
• David Horowitz ’59, consumer advocate
• Tana Utley ' 86, vice president of large power systems, Caterpillar Inc.
• Kary Mcllwain ’81, chief marketing officer, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• Calvin Butler '91, chief executive officer, Baltimore Gas & Electric
• Tami Lane ’96, Academy Award-winning prosthetic make-up artist
• The Honorable Joe Billy McDade, ’59, ’60, United States District Court Federal Judge
• Richard Teerlink ’61, retired chairman of Harley-Davidson, Inc.
• James Weinstein '72, president and CEO of Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital
• Neil Flynn '82, actor best known for his roles on "Scrubs" and "The Middle."
• Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr. '56, the first African American astronaut
 
* deceased