Purdue University
Purdue University at a Glance
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Purdue University Featured Rankings
- #1 Best Online Associate Degree Programs in Indiana
- #1 Most Affordable Colleges in Indiana 2026
- #1 Indiana's Best Online Colleges 2026
- #1 Most Affordable Online Sociology Doctorate Degree Programs (PhDs)
- #1 20 Most Affordable Online Bachelor's of Cybersecurity
- #1 Best Public Colleges in Indiana
- #1 Military Friendly Online Colleges
- #1 Indiana's Best Online Master's Degrees
- #2 Best Grad Schools in Indiana
- #2 Best Research Universities in Indiana 2026
- #2 Best Colleges in Indiana 2026
- #2 Best Online MBAs Indiana
- #3 Most Influential US Universities by State
- #4 Best Online Master's of Public Relations
- #5 Most Affordable Online Computer Science PhD Programs
- #5 Best Supply Chain Management MBA Programs
- #11 America's 15 Most Technologically Advanced Colleges
- #15 Most Affordable Colleges in the U.S. 2026
- #15 Most Affordable Online PhD of Nursing (DNP) Degree Programs
- #17 Best Public Colleges
- #17 Best Public Grad Schools
- #18 Most Influential Colleges in Swimming and Diving Today
- #21 The Most Influential Colleges in Football Today
- #32 The Best Traditional MBA Programs
- #37 Best Grad Schools 2026
- #40 Best US Universities 2026
- #90 Best Universities World 2026
About Purdue University
Purdue University was founded in 1869 with substantial financing provided by industrialist John Purdue. Its purpose was to train students in agriculture and engineering. The school officially opened for business in 1874 and grew quickly.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Purdue had been organized into five schools: agriculture, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and pharmacy. Later, schools of education and home economics were added. An early attempt at creating a medical school was later abandoned.
In other respects, Purdue was spectacularly successful. By 1925 the university was home to the largest number of engineering students in the US. It remained the nation’s largest engineering school for the next half-century.
Today, Purdue operates four satellite campuses: in Hammond, Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Overall, the Purdue system has a student body approaching 75,000 souls.
Purdue is associated with 13 Nobel Prize winners, including:
- Physicists, Ben Roy Mottelson, Edward Mills Purcell, Julian Schwinger & Wolfgang Pauli
- Chemists, Ei-ichi Negishi, Herbert C. Brown & Akira Suzuki
- Economist, Vernon L. Smith
In addition, the Turing Award winning computer scientist, Alan J. Perlis, spent time here as a researcher.
Among other prominent Purdue-connected individuals, we may note the following:
- Astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Roger Chaffee & Eugene Cernan
- Heroic airline pilot, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
- Mathematicians, Andrew Majda, Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar & Feydoon Shahidi
- Computer scientists, Mikhail Atallah, Markus Kuhn & Jill Zimmerman
- Computer software developer, Sanjiva Weerawarana
- Physicist, Albert Overhauser
- Chemist, C.N.R. Rao
- Chemical engineer, Rakesh Agrawal
- Molecular biologists, Seymour Benzer & Ronald Breaker
- Microbiologist, Rita Colwell
- Nanotechnology pioneers, Supriyo Datta & James Tour
- Physiologist, Leslie Geddes
- Economist, Hugo Sonnenschein
- Anthropologist, Peter Peregrine
- Novelist and playwright, Booth Tarkington
- Actors, George Peppard & Kenneth Choi
- Stand-up comic, Jim Gaffigan
- Photographer, Margaret Bourke-White
According to Wikipedia, Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. It has been ranked as among the best public universities in the United States by major institutional rankings, and is known for its engineering program.
Purdue University Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
| Annual Applications | Acceptance | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73,083 | 50% | 93% | 84% | 1340 | 30 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.
How Much Does Purdue University Cost To Attend?
| Tuition and fees (in-state) |
|---|
| $9,992 |
| Income | Average Net Cost |
|---|---|
| 0 - 30K | $6,147 |
| 30K - 48K | $5,618 |
| 48K - 75K | $9,056 |
| 75K - 110K | $15,253 |
| 110K+ | $23,490 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.
How Much Do Purdue University Graduates Make?
Ten years after starting college, former Purdue University students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $80,082 a year, and 94% of those not still in school are working.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.
Purdue University's Demographics
Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.
| Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 57,417 | 42,745 | 14,672 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.
Where is Purdue University?
Purdue University is located at Hovde Hall of Administration, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040.
How Safe is Purdue University?
Relative to its enrollment, Purdue University has a violent crime rate of 0.03% and a property crime rate of 0.27%. West Lafayette has a violent crime rate of 0.09% and a property crime rate of 1.21%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.
What Is Purdue University Known For?
Purdue University is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
- Engineering
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Business
- Physics
- Nursing
- Biology
- Education
- Economics
- Earth Sciences
- Social Work
- Medical
- Sociology
- Criminal Justice
- Communications
- History
- Psychology
- Political Science
- Philosophy
- Literature
- Anthropology
- Religious Studies
Purdue University's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Purdue University's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Purdue University ranks #14 in the U.S. and #26 worldwide for influence in Engineering.
engineering DegreesPurdue University ranks #20 in the U.S. and #70 worldwide for influence in Chemistry.
chemistry DegreesPurdue University ranks #21 in the U.S. and #41 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.
computer-science DegreesPurdue University ranks #26 in the U.S. and #87 worldwide for influence in Mathematics.
math DegreesPurdue University ranks #32 in the U.S. and #66 worldwide for influence in Business.
business DegreesPurdue University ranks #32 in the U.S. and #112 worldwide for influence in Physics.
physics DegreesPurdue University ranks #35 in the U.S. and #64 worldwide for influence in Nursing.
nursing DegreesPurdue University ranks #40 in the U.S. and #118 worldwide for influence in Biology.
biology DegreesPurdue University ranks #42 in the U.S. and #135 worldwide for influence in Education.
education DegreesPurdue University ranks #45 in the U.S. and #170 worldwide for influence in Economics.
economics DegreesPurdue University ranks #45 in the U.S. and #173 worldwide for influence in Earth Sciences.
earth-science DegreesPurdue University ranks #45 in the U.S. and #70 worldwide for influence in Social Work.
social-work DegreesPurdue University ranks #51 in the U.S. and #133 worldwide for influence in Medical.
medicine DegreesPurdue University ranks #56 in the U.S. and #154 worldwide for influence in Sociology.
sociology DegreesPurdue University ranks #56 in the U.S. and #71 worldwide for influence in Criminal Justice.
criminal-justice DegreesPurdue University ranks #58 in the U.S. and #191 worldwide for influence in Communications.
communications DegreesPurdue University ranks #58 in the U.S. and #155 worldwide for influence in History.
history DegreesPurdue University ranks #61 in the U.S. and #112 worldwide for influence in Psychology.
psychology DegreesPurdue University ranks #64 in the U.S. and #224 worldwide for influence in Political Science.
political-science DegreesPurdue University ranks #74 in the U.S. and #236 worldwide for influence in Philosophy.
philosophy DegreesPurdue University ranks #75 in the U.S. and #199 worldwide for influence in Literature.
literature DegreesPurdue University ranks #102 in the U.S. and #273 worldwide for influence in Anthropology.
anthropology DegreesPurdue University ranks #117 in the U.S. and #511 worldwide for influence in Religious Studies.
religious-studies-hub DegreesWho Are Purdue University's Most Influential Alumni?
Purdue University's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Engineering, Computer Science, and Nursing. Here are some of Purdue University's most famous alumni:
- Neil Armstrong
- An American astronaut and lunar explorer .
- Ward Cunningham
- An American computer programmer who developed the first wiki.
- James Samuel Coleman
- An American sociologist.
- Gus Grissom
- An American astronaut .
- Edward Mills Purcell
- An American physicist .
- C. N. R. Rao
- An Indian chemist.
- Mohamed M. Atalla
- An Electrical engineer and "Father of the PIN".
- John C. Reynolds
- An American computer scientist .
- Douglas Comer
- An American computer scientist.
- Booth Tarkington
- An American novelist.
- Yitang Zhang
- A Chinese-born American mathematician.
- Ben Roy Mottelson
- A Danish nuclear physicist.
Who Are Purdue University's Most Influential Faculty?
Purdue University's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Engineering, Computer Science, and Nursing. Here are some of Purdue University's most famous faculty:
- Roxane Gay
- An American writer.
- Mung Chiang
- An American engineering researcher.
- Jeffrey H. Smith
- An American mathematician specializing in algebraic topology.
- Daniel P. Aldrich
- An American political scientist.
- Ellen Gruenbaum
- An American anthropologist.
- Dov Dori
- An American computer scientist.
- Wojciech Szpankowski
- A Polish computer scientist.
- Kathleen Howell
- An American academic.
- Sabine Brunswicker
- A Professor for Digital Innovation.
- Dennis Hong
- A Roboticist. Dennis Hong is founder and director of RoMeLa.
- Akhilesh K. Gaharwar
- A Researcher.
- Justin Lehmiller
- An American social psychologist & sex researcher.
