After many years of offering courses at separate locations in Fort Wayne, Indiana University and Purdue University opened the combined campus of IPFW in 1964. 

The 1970s were a time of rapid growth, accompanied by the formal merger of the campus administration in 1975. A regional campus of both Indiana University and Purdue University, IPFW is managed by Purdue University under the terms of a management agreement that is renewed every five years. In the 1980s, an academic structure was created to emphasize relationships among departments rather than relationships of departments to Indiana or Purdue mission assignments.