for the new influx of students. By 1950, the school's enrollment was 3,144 with 1,507 women and 1,637 men. That same year, radio station WBST-FM started broadcasting from the basement of the Administration Building. In 1961, Ball State became independent of Indiana State via the creation of the Ball State College Board of Trustees, so that Ball State was no longer governed remotely by the Indiana State College Board of Trustees. Also in 1961, the name of Ball State was changed to Ball State College. Ball State University In 1965, in recognition of the school growth beyond merely being a school to educate public school teachers, the Indiana General Assembly renames the school as Ball State University with an enrollment of 10,066 students. It wasn't until the promotion of the school to official "University" status, that Ball State began to grow academically. It was in the same year, 1965, that the College of Architecture and Planning was established, offering the only public-university degrees in architecture within Indiana. Programs expanded, and more teachers were hired from across the nation in response to this. Thus, the school which had been dubbed the "Little Commonwealth" was now expanding into the modern world. Ball State has seen a trend of near-constant growth since its creation. Current enrollment is the highest in the school's history, prompting construction of new residence halls that were completed in 2007 (Park Hall) and 2010 (Kinghorn Hall). Bachelor's degrees are available in eight different areas which contain over fifty individual programs—a sharp increase from the five programs in which the University initially offered degrees. Despite current uncertainty in the economy, Ball State's academic future is considered by many to be bright as the University continues a course of upgrading programs and adding new ones where applicable. At 2021 it's enrollment is approximately 22,443 students, both graduate and undergraduate - Full-time enrollment is 14,851, with Part-time enrollment at 6,592. [per https://datausa.io/profile/university/ball-state-university ] Past presidents William Wood Parsons (1918–1921) Linnaeus Neal Hines (1921–1924) Benjamin J. Burris (1924–1927) Lemuel Arthur Pittenger (1927–1942) Winfred Ethestal Wagoner (1943–1945)* John Richard Emens (1945–1968) John J. Pruis (1968–1978) Richard W. Burkhardt (1978–1979)* Jerry M. Anderson (1979–1981) Robert P. Bell (1981–1984) John E. Worthen (1984–2000) Blaine A. Brownell (2000–2004) Beverley J. Pitts (2004)* Jo Ann M. Gora (2004–2014) Paul W. Ferguson (2014–2016) Terry S. King (2016–2017)* Geoffrey Mearns (2017–present) * Interim presidency See also Ball State University References