Valparaiso University Paper Format & Writing Requirements

Valparaiso University at a glance

A private Lutheran university in northwest Indiana known for the Chapel of the Resurrection and its huge circular stained-glass window, strong engineering and nursing programs, and a campus under two hours from downtown Chicago.

The campus sits in Valparaiso, Indiana, operates as a private (lutheran) institution, and enrolls about 3,000 students — a scale that directly shapes how writing support works. Founded in 1859 with an acceptance rate around 78%, Valpo pairs selective admissions with the large-course writing loads typical of its category.

Citation styles Valparaiso University actually requires

Valpo courses predominantly require APA 7 or MLA 9 or Chicago. That is not a trivial preference: it decides your title page, heading levels, in-text punctuation and reference format on every graded document.

• APA 7: used across social science, nursing and business courses
• MLA 9: used across humanities and writing-sequence courses
• Chicago: used across history, fine arts and some social science seminars

Verify against the specific course syllabus anyway — instructors can override departmental defaults, and the first paper is where they enforce it.

The writing requirement, decoded

First-year composition feeds a core that asks majors for lab reports, literature reviews and reflective essays, and the Writing Center tutors across the Valparaiso campus.

Plan the sequence early: composition requirements compound, and students who defer them discover the advanced seminars — where the writing-intensity lives — conflict with major courses later. The registrar's degree audit shows exactly which flags remain; check it each semester.

Three things about Valparaiso University papers that surprise new students

• Founded in 1859 as Valparaiso Male and Female College, the school was one of America's earliest coeducational colleges, admitting women and men on equal terms from its first day.
• The Chapel of the Resurrection, dedicated in 1959, seats roughly 2,000 beneath a circular stained-glass window about 98 feet across, ranking among the largest collegiate chapels in the world.
• The university retired its longtime Crusaders nickname in 2021 and now competes as the Beacons, with most teams playing in the Missouri Valley Conference.

None of these appear in the course description. All of them appear in the rubric. Students who learn them in week one report smoother first-semesters than students who meet them at the deadline.

Assignments Valparaiso University students face most

• Essay — most frequently assigned across Valpo's programs
• Research Paper — most frequently assigned across Valpo's programs
• Coursework — most frequently assigned across Valpo's programs
• Term Paper — most frequently assigned across Valpo's programs

Popular programs at Valpo include mechanical engineering, nursing, business administration — each pairs the assignment list above with its own capstone or practicum expectations, detailed on our subject pages.