Purdue University-Main Campus

Location and Contact Information

Hovde Hall of Administration
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040
USA
Main Tel: (765) 494-4600
Web Site

The campus is in a medium-sized suburb.

Overview

Founded on May 6, 1869, Purdue University's main campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is spread across an area of over 2,400 acres. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Purdue University among America's Best 100 Colleges. Purdue offers undergraduate and graduate programs in over 200 major areas of study through the following academic divisions:

  • College of Agriculture
  • College of Consumer and Family Sciences
  • College of Education
  • College of Engineering
  • College of Liberal Arts
  • College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences
  • College of Science
  • College of Technology
  • Krannert School of Management
  • School of Veterinary Medicine
  • The Graduate School

The racial diversity of the 2007 undergraduate student body at Purdue was 86.9% white, 5.51% Asian, 3.53% African American and 2.75% Hispanic.

The athletics teams of Purdue University are known as the Boilermakers. They participate in sports like football, basketball, wrestling, golf, cross country, tennis and volleyball. The official mascot is Purdue Pete, and the team colors are gold and black.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

  • Many students concentrating in engineering, engineering technician, agricultural science and management, construction trades, medicine, and mathematics.
  • Large number of students.
  • Large number of programs of study offered.
  • Good faculty-to-student ratio.
  • High faculty salary.
  • High male/female ratio.
  • High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
  • Number of dorm rooms for students.

School characteristics:

  • The school is public.
  • Academic calender: Semester.
  • Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

  • The school offers a faculty tenure system.
  • There are one or more libraries on-campus.
  • Campus housing is available.
  • Students may study abroad.
  • Distance learning is available.
  • Part-time classes are available.
  • ROTC.
  • Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)

ItemCost
State Tuition and fees$ 8,638
Out-of-state tuition and fees$ 25,118
Room$ 3,994
Board$ 4,716
Books and supplies$ 1,220
Other$ 2,070

Financial Aid

Purdue participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

In 2009-2010, 70% of students received financial aid of some sort.

Grants% of
Students
Average
Amount
Any Grant47%$8,289
Institutional Grant42%$5,490
Federal Grant16%$5,337
Pell Grant14%$3,230
Other Federal Grant15%$2,769
State or Local Grant17%$4,206

Loans% of
Students
Average
Amount
Student Loan42%$6,326
Federal Loan41%$4,809
Other Loan9%$7,326

(Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.)

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Purdue University-Main Campus:

Click a column header to sort.

 SchoolLocationEnrollment
1Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg, VA30,739
2Texas A & M UniversityCollege Station, TX48,039
3Pennsylvania State University-Main CampusUniversity Park, PA44,406
4California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, CA19,471
5California State Polytechnic University-PomonaPomona, CA21,190
6University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignChampaign, IL43,246
7University of Colorado at BoulderBoulder, CO32,469
8The University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX49,984
9Auburn University Main CampusAuburn University, AL24,530
10Clemson UniversityClemson, SC18,317

Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

DegreeTotal
Earned
Different
Programs
Bachelor6,06490
Master1,32152
Doctorate (Research/Scholarship)65149
Associate51235
Doctorate (Professional Practice)2314
< 1 year certificate18233
Postbaccalaureate certificate7114
Post-master's certificate4211

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Full-Time Faculty  Total
With tenure  1,305
Without tenure; working toward tenure  458
Without tenure; tenure not available  624

Students

Student enrollment was 41,433 in 2009-2010 (40,516 full-time equivalent).

About 56% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 44% of the class.

Undergrads are 79% of enrolled students and graduate students are 21%.

Students under 25 years old represent 81% of the student body. About 3% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 97% are full-time and 3% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

ApplicantsAdmitted
Men72%
Women74%
All73%

SAT Test Scores:

SATMiddle 50%
Verbal500-610
Math540-670
Writing490-600

Room and Board

Purdue provides on-campus housing for 11,816 of its 40,516 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Big Ten Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 222 male students received the aid (men were 60% of those receiving aid) and 148 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 40% of students receiving such aid) .

International Study

About 10% of freshmen are from countries other than the US.

International applicants are required to take the TOEFL exam.

Graduate School Focus

Purdue offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include continuing professional education.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT (301 awarded)

  • Agricultural Business and Management
  • Agricultural Economics
  • Agricultural Mechanization
  • Agriculture
  • Food Science

ANIMAL SCIENCE AND CARE (109 awarded)

  • Animal Sciences

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (25 awarded)

  • Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (71 awarded)

  • Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,416 awarded)

  • Accounting
  • Business Administration and Management
  • Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
  • Management Information Systems and Services
  • Operations Management and Supervision

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (240 awarded)

  • Computer Engineering
  • Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
  • Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (59 awarded)

  • Forestry
  • Natural Resources/Conservation
  • Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management

CONSTRUCTION TRADES (227 awarded)

  • Apparel and Textiles

DESIGN (42 awarded)

  • Design and Visual Communications

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (28 awarded)

  • Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
  • Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (621 awarded)

  • Agricultural Teacher Education
  • Early Childhood Education and Teaching
  • Education
  • Elementary Education and Teaching
  • Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
  • Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher Education
  • Trade and Industrial Teacher Education

ENGINEERING (1,764 awarded)

  • Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
  • Agricultural/Biological Engineering and Bioengineering
  • Biomedical/Medical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Construction Engineering
  • Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
  • Engineering
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Materials Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Nuclear Engineering

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (874 awarded)

  • Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering Technology/Technician
  • Architectural Engineering Technology/Technician
  • Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engr Technology/Technician
  • Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians
  • Industrial Technology/Technician
  • Mechanical Drafting and Mechanical Drafting CAD/CADD
  • Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians
  • Robotics Technology/Technician
  • Surveying Technology/Surveying

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (255 awarded)

  • Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
  • Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies
  • Human Development and Family Studies

HOSPITALITY (152 awarded)

  • Hospitality Administration/Management
  • Hotel/Motel Administration/Management

LANDSCAPING AND HORTICULTURE (83 awarded)

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Horticultural Science

LIBERAL ARTS (759 awarded)

  • African-American/Black Studies
  • Economics
  • English Language and Literature
  • Foreign Languages and Literatures
  • History
  • Humanities/Humanistic Studies
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Political Science and Government
  • Social Sciences
  • Sociology

MATHEMATICS (165 awarded)

  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

MECHANICS AND REPAIR (4 awarded)

  • Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician

MEDIA (272 awarded)

  • Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (173 awarded)

  • Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
  • Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Technology/Technologist
  • Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician/Veterinary Assistant

MEDICINE (462 awarded)

  • Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences
  • Pharmacy (PharmD [USA], PharmD or BS/BPharm [Canada])
  • Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)
  • Veterinary Sciences/Veterinary Clinical Sci, Gen (Cert,MS,PhD)

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (146 awarded)

  • Nursing
  • Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (25 awarded)

  • Philosophy

SCIENCE (409 awarded)

  • Biochemistry
  • Biological and Physical Sciences
  • Biology/Biological Sciences
  • Botany/Plant Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Entomology
  • Geology/Earth Science
  • Physics

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (243 awarded)

  • Psychology

TRANSPORTATION (149 awarded)

  • Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science and Technology
  • Aviation/Airway Management and Operations