Purdue University - Main Campus Data & Information Overview
Want the scoop on Purdue University - Main Campus? We’ve put together a comprehensive report on the school that covers what majors Purdue offers, how the school ranks, how diverse it is, and much more. Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is Purdue University - Main Campus Ranked?

2022 Rankings
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Purdue University - Main Campus was awarded 5,428 badges in the 2022 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is plant genetics.
Overall Quality
College Factual ranked Purdue as #106 out of 2,576 colleges and universities in the country on its 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Purdue also holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Indiana ranking.
See all of the rankings for Purdue University - Main Campus.
Is It Hard to Get Into Purdue?
Acceptance Rate
Purdue University - Main Campus has an acceptance rate of 67%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for Purdue.
Average Test Scores
About 82% of students accepted to Purdue submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 580 and 680. Math scores were between 590 and 740.
Learn more about Purdue University - Main Campus admissions.
Purdue University - Main Campus Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio is often used to estimate how much interaction there is between professors and their students at a college or university. At Purdue University - Main Campus, this ratio is 13 to 1, which is on par with the national average of 15 to 1. That's not bad at all.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Purdue University - Main Campus is 96%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Purdue University - Main Campus
Freshmen Retention Rate
Purdue University - Main Campus has a freshmen retention rate of 93%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Graduation Rate
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at Purdue for first-time, full-time students is 55%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Purdue University - Main Campus.
Purdue University - Main Campus Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 35,706 undergraduates at Purdue with 33,575 being full-time and 2,131 being part-time.
How Much Does Purdue University - Main Campus Cost?
The overall average net price of Purdue is $13,986. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for Purdue
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$5,483 | $5,879 | $9,654 | $18,565 | $21,304 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Purdue, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Purdue, approximately 29% of students took out student loans averaging $8,522 a year. That adds up to $34,088 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Purdue is 2.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Get more details about paying for Purdue University - Main Campus.
How Much Money Do Purdue Graduates Make?
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Purdue with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $55,100 in their early years. That's great news for Purdue students since it is 38% more than the average college graduate's salary of $39,802 per year.
See which majors at Purdue University - Main Campus make the most money.
Location of Purdue University - Main Campus
Purdue University - Main Campus is a public institution situated in West Lafayette, Indiana. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.Get more details about the location of Purdue University - Main Campus.

Contact details for Purdue are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | Hovde Hall Of Administration, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040 |
Phone: | 765-494-4600 |
Website: | https://www.purdue.edu/ |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/PurdueUniversity |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/LifeAtPurdue |
Purdue University - Main Campus Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 117 majors graduated from Purdue University - Main Campus. Of these students, 7,959 received undergraduate degrees and 3,229 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
Computer Science | 469 | $86,215 |
Mechanical Engineering | 376 | $72,483 |
Industrial Engineering | 276 | $73,128 |
Mechanical Engineering Technology | 273 | $65,424 |
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | 252 | $67,507 |
Finance & Financial Management | 238 | $53,358 |
Business Administration & Management | 237 | $54,606 |
Computer Engineering | 219 | $77,789 |
Child Development & Psychology | 219 | $30,771 |
Electrical Engineering | 216 | $73,549 |
Online Learning at Purdue
Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
In 2019-2020, 38,274 students took at least one online class at Purdue University - Main Campus. This is an increase from the 10,129 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2019-2020 | 38,274 | 8,309 |
2018-2019 | 10,129 | 2,731 |
2017-2018 | 9,238 | 2,597 |
2016-2017 | 7,841 | 2,494 |
2015-2016 | 7,085 | 2,108 |
Learn more about online learning at Purdue University - Main Campus.
Find Out More About Purdue University - Main Campus
Related Schools
If you’re considering Purdue University - Main Campus, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
- Oklahoma State University - Main Campus
- Pennsylvania State University - University Park
- The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
- University of Florida
- Virginia Tech
Curious on how these schools stack up against Purdue? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Abhijitsathe under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.