Chemical Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus
Chemical Engineering is one of the majors in the engineering program at Purdue University - Main Campus.We've pulled together some essential information you should know about the program, including how many students graduate each year, the ethnic diversity of these students, average starting salaries, and more. We've also included details on how Purdue ranks compared to other colleges offering a major in chem eng.
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Chemical Engineering Degrees Available at Purdue
Purdue Chem Eng Rankings
The bachelor's program at Purdue was ranked #31 on College Factual's Best Schools for chem eng list. It is also ranked #3 in Indiana.
Popularity of Chem Eng at Purdue
During the 2019-2020 academic year, Purdue University - Main Campus handed out 161 bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering. Due to this, the school was ranked #2 in popularity out of all colleges and universities that offer this degree. This is a decrease of 7% over the previous year when 173 degrees were handed out.
In 2020, 33 students received their master’s degree in chem eng from Purdue. This makes it the #18 most popular school for chem eng master’s degree candidates in the country.
In addition, 20 students received their doctoral degrees in chem eng in 2020, making the school the #12 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.
How Much Do Chem Eng Graduates from Purdue Make?
Salary of Chem Eng Graduates with a Bachelor's Degree
Chem Eng majors who earn their bachelor's degree from Purdue go on to jobs where they make a median salary of $68,300 a year. This is higher than $64,750, which is the national median for all chem eng bachelor's degree recipients.

How Much Student Debt Do Chem Eng Graduates from Purdue Have?
Student Debt of Chem Eng Graduates with a Bachelor's Degree
While getting their bachelor's degree at Purdue, chem eng students borrow a median amount of $20,500 in student loans. This is not too bad considering that the median debt load of all chem eng bachelor's degree recipients across the country is $23,500.

The typical student loan payment of a bachelor's degree student from the chem eng program at Purdue is $213 per month.
Purdue Chem Eng Students
Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the chem eng majors at Purdue University - Main Campus.
Purdue Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Program
Of the 161 students who earned a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 2019-2020, 58% were men and 42% were women.

The majority of bachelor's degree recipients in this major at Purdue are white. In the most recent graduating class for which data is available, 64% of students fell into this category.
The following table and chart show the ethnic background for students who recently graduated from Purdue University - Main Campus with a bachelor's in chem eng.

Ethnic Background | Number of Students |
---|---|
Asian | 16 |
Black or African American | 4 |
Hispanic or Latino | 8 |
White | 103 |
Non-Resident Aliens | 25 |
Other Races | 5 |
Purdue Chemical Engineering Master’s Program
Of the 59 students who earned a master's degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue in 2019-2020, 71% were men and 29% were women.

The following table and chart show the ethnic background for students who recently graduated from Purdue University - Main Campus with a master's in chem eng.

Ethnic Background | Number of Students |
---|---|
Asian | 6 |
Black or African American | 1 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1 |
White | 9 |
Non-Resident Aliens | 42 |
Other Races | 0 |
Majors Similar to Chem Eng
Related Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Mechanical Engineering | 557 |
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | 410 |
Electrical Engineering | 399 |
Industrial Engineering | 378 |
Civil Engineering | 263 |
View All Chemical Engineering Related Majors >
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- Image Credit: By Abhijitsathe under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.