Urban public universities, such as IUPUI, often serve a wide range of students. From under-prepared first-year undergraduates to doctoral candidates, their students are likely to be what are called nontraditional or new majority students. As a result the students at urban universities often have different patterns of behavior and different purposes in attending the university from traditional students. A societal call for increased accountability in higher education has led institutions to find ways in which to distinguish and articulate their particular benefits and accomplishments. However, the lack of a clear public understanding of the urban public institutional type further complicates the efforts of these universities. IUPUI has selected an official set of twelve peer institutions to use for comparative purposes and various appropriate benchmarking efforts:
The Twelve Official IUPUI Peer Institutions:- SUNY at Buffalo
- Temple University
- University of Alabama-Birmingham
- University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
- University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- University of Louisville
- University of New Mexico - Main Campus
- University of South Florida
- University of Utah
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Wayne State University
Recent consortium and peer comparison projects, however, are also seeking to more broadly explain the unique realities of urban public universities such as IUPUI. Participation in and leadership of, some of these projects is a cornerstone of IUPUI´s efforts to be "one of the best urban universities, recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for its achievements." Examples of two of these comparative projects follow:
- Urban Universities Portfolio Project (UUPP)
- The Portrait of Universities with Metropolitan Alliances (PUMA)
- Teaching and Learning Outcome Comparisons
- Civic Engagement Comparisons
