Purdue University

Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in Indiana, US, with its main campus in West Lafayette, and an urban campus in Indianapolis. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture; the first classes were held on September 16, 1874. Purdue's West Lafayette campus remains the flagship campus of the Purdue University system, while Purdue University in Indianapolis was launched on July 1, 2024.

Purdue University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Purdue enrolls the largest student body of any individual university campus in Indiana, as well as the ninth-largest foreign student population of any university in the United States. The university is home to the world's oldest computer science degree-granting department and the first university-owned airport in the United States.

Purdue is the founding member of the Big Ten Conference and sponsors 18 intercollegiate sports teams. It has been affiliated with 13 Nobel laureates, 1 Turing Award laureate, 1 Bharat Ratna recipient, 27 astronauts, 2 World Food Prize laureates, 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, 18 Olympic medalists, 3 National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients, 2 National Medal of Science recipients, 3 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, 7 members of Congress, 3 U.S. governors, and 2 heads of state.

History

In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly voted to take advantage of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862 and began plans to establish an institution with a focus on agriculture and engineering with the preliminary name of the Indiana Agricultural College. Communities throughout the state offered facilities and funding in bids for the location of the new college. Popular proposals included designating Indiana University or what is now Butler University as Indiana's land-grant, as well as the addition of an agriculture department at what is now Indiana State University. By 1869, Tippecanoe County's offer included $150,000 (equivalent to $3.6 million in 2025) from Lafayette business leader and philanthropist John Purdue; $50,000 from the county; and 100 acres (0.4 km2) of land from John Purdue and local residents.

On May 6, 1869, the General Assembly established the institution in Tippecanoe County as Purdue University, in the name of the principal benefactor. Classes began at Purdue on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. Professor John S. Hougham was Purdue's first faculty member and was the acting president between the administrations of presidents Shortridge and White. A campus of five buildings was completed by the end of 1874. In 1875, Sarah D. Allen Oren Haynes, the State Librarian of Indiana, was appointed professor of botany.

Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, in 1875. The first female student was admitted that autumn.

Emerson E. White, the university's president from 1876 to 1883, followed a strict interpretation of the Morrill Act. Rather than emulate the classical universities, White believed Purdue should be an "industrial college" and devote its resources toward providing a broad, liberal education with an emphasis on science, technology, and agriculture.

Part of White's plan to distinguish Purdue from classical universities included a controversial attempt to ban fraternities, which was ultimately overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court. White resigned in protest. The next president, James H. Smart, is remembered for his call in 1894 to rebuild the original Heavilon Hall "one brick higher" after it had been destroyed by a fire.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the university was organized into schools of agriculture, engineering (mechanical, civil, and electrical), and pharmacy; former U.S. President Benjamin Harrison was on the board of trustees. Purdue's engineering laboratories included testing facilities for a locomotive, and for a Corliss steam engine—one of the most efficient engines of the time. Programs in education and home economics were soon established, as well as a short-lived school of medicine. By 1925, Purdue had the largest undergraduate engineering enrollment in the country, a status it would keep for half a century.

Campuses

West Lafayette

Purdue's West Lafayette campus is situated in the city of West Lafayette, near the western bank of the Wabash River, across which sits the larger city of Lafayette. Mitch Daniels Boulevard (formerly State Street) divides the northern and southern portions of campus. Academic buildings are mostly concentrated on the eastern and southern parts of campus, with residence halls and intramural fields to the west, and athletic facilities to the north. An extensive system of underground tunnels protects pedestrians from snow, ice, wind, rain and UV during movements between buildings.

Purdue Mall

The Purdue Mall is the central quad of Purdue University and was created to connect the academic campus with Ross-Ade Stadium. It is also known as the Engineering Mall due to its proximity to several engineering buildings. The most prominent feature of the Purdue Mall is the 38-foot (12 m)-tall concrete Engineering Fountain.

The Purdue Bell Tower is between the Stadium and Centennial Malls. The Bell Tower is considered an icon of the university and can be found on many Purdue logos and those of the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette.

Southwest of the Stadium Mall is the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music, one of the largest proscenium theaters in the world. Elliott Hall of Music is the home of the WBAA (AM) and WBAA-FM studios, and was the base of operations for Purdue Bands and Orchestras until the completion of the Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall in 2022.

West of the Elliott Hall of Music is the Armory Building. The Armory Building was rebuilt in 1918 after a fire and houses the university's ROTC programs and other clubs.

Memorial Mall

The Purdue Memorial Mall, south of the Purdue Mall, is the original section of campus. It is a popular meeting place for students and is surrounded by other buildings used for academic and cultural purposes.

Near this section of campus is Felix Haas Hall, which was constructed in 1909 as Memorial Gymnasium in memory of the 17 Purdue University football players, coaches, alumni, and fans who died in the Purdue Wreck railroad accident of 1903. The structure was renovated in 1985 to house the computer science department. In 2006, it was renamed in honor of retired Provost Felix Haas and began to also house the Statistics department. East of the Memorial Mall is the Purdue Memorial Union, Purdue's student union building, and the adjacent Union Club Hotel.

University Hall

University Hall is the only building remaining from the original six-building campus. Construction began in 1871, when the building was known as "The Main Building". The building was dedicated in 1877. University Hall originally housed the office of the president, a chapel, and classrooms. At the request of John Purdue, he was buried in the Memorial Mall, directly across from the main entrance of University Hall.

Academics

Undergraduate admissions

Purdue University is ranked 43rd in the annual ranking of 2024 U.S. News & World Report. The 2022 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorizes Purdue University-West Lafayette as "more selective". For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Purdue received 59,173 applications and accepted 40,759 (68.9%). Of those accepted, 10,157 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 24.9%. Purdue's freshman retention rate is 92%, with 81.5% going on to graduate within six years.

The university started test-optional admissions with the Fall 2021 incoming class in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has extended this through Fall 2023. Of the 62% of the incoming freshman class who submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1190–1430. Of the 31% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 26 and 33.

Purdue University is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 88 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 127 freshman students were National Merit Scholars.

Academic divisions

Purdue offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in over 211 major areas of study, and is well known for its competitive engineering curricula. The university has also been integral in America's history of aviation, having established the first college credit offered in flight training; the first four-year bachelor's degree in aviation; and the first university airport: Purdue University Airport. Purdue's aviation technology and aeronautical engineering programs remain among the most competitive aviation-specific programs in the world. In the mid-20th century, Purdue's aviation program expanded to encompass advanced spaceflight technology, giving rise to Purdue's nicknames Cradle of Astronauts and Mother of Astronauts. Twenty-seven Purdue graduates have become astronauts, including Gus Grissom, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts; Neil Armstrong, who was the first person to walk on the Moon; and Eugene Cernan, who was the last person to walk on the Moon.

The English department at Purdue launched the first Online Writing Lab (OWL), in 1994. Many colleges and universities use the Purdue OWL website as an academic writing reference source. Professors criticized the partnership, begun in 2020, between OWL and the company Chegg, which provides AI-generated "homework help" that some consider to be plagiarism.

Rankings

In its 2026 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked Purdue University the seventh most innovative national university, 8th best engineering school, 6th best school for internships and co-ops, 11th best for innovation, and 19th best public university in the United States. For its graduate programs, Purdue is ranked 5th for overall engineering, 1st for biological/agricultural engineering, 5th for aerospace engineering, 9th for computer engineering, 9th for electrical engineering, 7th for mechanical engineering, 1st for analytic chemistry, 19th for computer science, 24th for applied mathematics, and 22nd for statistics.

In its 2026 edition, the Times Higher Education ranked Purdue University 10th among all global universities for Interdisciplinary Science (7th among universities in the United States). It also ranked Purdue 30th among all global universities for engineering (16th among universities in the United States).

As of April 2025, CSRankings.org ranked Purdue's computer science program 13th overall in the United States.

Campus life

Student body

In 2012, 8,562 students from 126 countries around the world attended Purdue University. For international student enrollment, Purdue ranks ninth among 4,500-plus public and private institutions and ranks fourth among all U.S. public universities, based on the 2024 Open Doors Report.

In 2012–13, 19,689 out of a total of 39,256 students enrolled were Indiana residents. As of 2013, the racial diversity of the US-resident undergraduate student body was 5.7% Asian, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.0% black or African American. Of the undergraduate students, 42.6% were female. Domestic minorities constitute a total of 10.8% in the graduate student body population of which 37.3% are female. Twenty-two percent of the student body is international, representing 126 countries. In graduate and professional student population, non-Indiana residents occupy an overwhelming majority, about 75%. Almost all undergraduates and about 70% of the graduate student population attend full-time. The school's selectivity for admissions is "more selective" by USNWR: approximately 49% of applicants are admitted.

Housing

About one-third of the single undergraduate students on the West Lafayette campus live in university-owned buildings. The rest live in fraternities, sororities, cooperatives, or private off-campus housing. School sources claim over 10,000 spaces available in seventeen separate residence halls for students on campus.

Purdue University hosts one of the nation's largest Greek communities, with roughly 40 fraternities and 30 sororities.

Activities and events

Students at Purdue participate in more than 1,000 student organizations that cover a variety of interests. Some of the notable clubs founded by Purdue students include the Purdue Reamer Club (a school spirit organization that cares for the Boilermaker Special mascot and raises funds for scholarships) and two clubs that eventually became nationwide organizations: the National Society of Black Engineers and the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.

Several campus-wide programs are planned by the Purdue Alumni Student Experience (part of the Alumni Association), Purdue Student Union Board, Purdue Student Government (PSG), or the Purdue Graduate Student Government (PGSG). PSG and PGSG are made up of representatives from each of the university's academic colleges and give recommendations to the faculty, administration, and sometimes to the state legislature.

Annual campus events include Boiler Gold Rush, Purdue University Dance Marathon, Spring Fest, and Grand Prix. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) is Purdue's annual student orientation program and a sports pep rally. Purdue University Dance Marathon (PUDM) is an 18-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping, dance marathon; over 2,000 students participate and the event raises over $1 million annually for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Spring Fest is an annual carnival with entertaining exhibits from many academic departments. A highlight of the weekend is the Entomology Department's Bug Bowl, where the sport of cricket spitting was invented in 1997. The Purdue Grand Prix, a 50-mile, 160-lap go-kart race ends Gala Week each year. All 33 participating karts are made from scratch by student teams. The event has been raising money for student scholarships since it began in 1958.

Media

The Purdue Exponent, an independent student newspaper, has the largest circulation of any Indiana college newspaper, with a daily circulation of 17,500 copies during the spring and fall semesters. From 1889 to 2008 Purdue published a yearbook called the Debris.

WBAA are radio station operations owned by and licensed to Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media, with studios at the university, featuring three noncommercial stations: WBAA News, WBAA Classical, and WBAA Jazz. The stations can be heard on AM 920, 101.3 FM, and 105.9 FM. WBAA also broadcasts on HD Radio and digital platforms including wbaa.org and the WBAA app. Its studios are in the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music on the Purdue campus, and the transmitters are in Lafayette, Indiana. WBAA is the longest continuously operating radio station in Indiana, having been licensed on April 4, 1922. WBAA is a NPR member station. Despite some public disapproval, in 2022, Purdue sold WBAA (AM) and WBAA-FM to WFYI-FM. Purdue received $700,000 in underwriting credit while agreeing to provide an investment of $250,000 annually for two years to WFYI to offset initial operating costs.

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