Marian University is a Roman Catholic university in Indianapolis Indiana. Marian University, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg, Indiana, traces its roots to their founding in 1851. The Oldenburg Franciscans established schools and a teacher-training school to ensure that their members were good teachers. Marian University is located about four miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis. Marian University has more than 2,200 full- and part-time students from the United States and 12 other countries with a student-faculty ratio of 15.5:1. 1851 – Teacher Training Formed in 1851 in the liberal arts tradition as a teacher training school by the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg to serve the educational needs of the German-Catholic residents of southern Indiana. Under the direction of Father Francis Joseph Rudolph and Mother Theresa Hackelmeier, teachers were trained at Oldenburg for more than a decade before Indiana adopted its first tax-supported normal school. 1936 – The Beginning Originally known as St. Francis Normal, the school became a four-year, state-approved institution which merged with Immaculate Conception Junior College to form Marian College.