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Public · Small city campus · founded 1869 · full profile

Purdue University

Cost-conscious engineering, aviation, agriculture and technology students who want strong outcomes without needing single-digit-admit credentials.

CompareOfficial site
West Lafayette, Indiana44,503 undergraduatesMean consensus percentile 11STEM-focusedPublic flagshipResearch university

The short answer

Purdue has frozen tuition since 2012, holding in-state cost at $9,992 for more than a decade while ranking #46 nationally and top-10 for engineering. It graduates more astronauts than any other institution outside the service academies, and at a 49.9% acceptance rate it is meaningfully attainable — rare among schools with these engineering outcomes.

The six numbers that matter most

Acceptance rate
49.9%

Below the dataset median of 76%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported entering class, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Average net price
$14,600

65% below the $41,614 published price

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardAverage for full-time first-time aid recipients, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Median earnings, 10 yrs
$72,424

Above the dataset median of $54,053

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMedian earnings 10 years after entry, working and not enrolled, College Scorecard June 2026 release

6-year graduation rate
83.1%

Above the dataset median of 56%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent six-year cohort, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Median debt at graduation
$19,500

Above the dataset median of $23,250

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMedian federal loan debt of completers, College Scorecard June 2026 release

SAT middle 50%
1200–1480

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardSum of reported reading and math section percentiles for the most recent entering class, College Scorecard June 2026 release. Section percentiles added together approximate, but do not exactly equal, the composite score range.

Where Purdue ranks, and why the answers differ

Each publisher's position, the list it belongs to, and how many institutions it was drawn from.

SourceListRank
US News2026National Universities#46of 436National universities
Forbes2026America's Top Colleges#62of 500Top colleges (Forbes)
Washington Monthly2026National Universities#44of 442National universities
WSJ2026Best Colleges in the U.S.#102of 500U.S. colleges (WSJ)
Niche2026Best Colleges (Overall)A+#70of 2,605Overall (Niche)
Money2026Best Value Colleges4.5 starsListedBest value (Money)
Princeton Review2026Best Colleges (Overall)Not ranked by this source
QS2026World University RankingsNot ranked by this source

Methodology sensitivity: Purdue's position moves 18 percentile points depending on which published list you read. That is a wide spread, so which list you consult substantially changes the impression you get. How we compute this

Ranking positions are the editorial property of their publishers and are reproduced here with attribution for comparison and commentary. Follow each source link for its full list and methodology.

About Purdue

The tuition freeze is not a marketing line; it is the central fact about Purdue. In-state tuition has been held at $9,992 since 2012, meaning today's students pay less in real terms than students did over a decade ago. Combined with an average net price near $13,500, this makes Purdue one of the few institutions where cost has not been the family's biggest worry.

Engineering is the flagship. Purdue's College of Engineering ranks in the national top ten, aeronautics and astronautics is elite — the university has produced more astronauts than any institution outside the service academies, including Neil Armstrong — and the agricultural sciences programs are among the best anywhere. The Purdue Polytechnic Institute offers a more applied, project-based alternative track.

What makes Purdue strategically useful on a college list is the combination of a 49.9% acceptance rate with top-tier engineering outcomes. Very few schools offer both. The honest counterweights are an 84% six-year graduation rate — solid but below the elite tier — and West Lafayette, a small Indiana college town that is quiet and cold, which some students love and others find isolating.

Strengths and honest considerations

Strengths

  • In-state tuition frozen at $9,992 since 2012, an unmatched affordability record.
  • Top-ten College of Engineering with elite aerospace and agricultural programs.
  • A 49.9% acceptance rate alongside outcomes normally reserved for far more selective schools.
  • Average net price of $14,600, among the lowest of any major research university.

Considerations

  • 84% six-year graduation rate trails the elite tier.
  • West Lafayette is small, cold and remote from major cities.
  • 39,000 undergraduates; large lecture courses in core sequences are the norm.

Who this school genuinely fits

Cost-conscious engineering, aviation, agriculture and technology students who want strong outcomes without needing single-digit-admit credentials.

What it costs

Published price, then what families actually pay after grants and scholarships.

In-state tuition & fees
$9,992

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Out-of-state tuition & fees
$28,794

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Room & board
$12,820

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Published cost of attendance comes to roughly $41,614 a year, but the average family pays $14,600 — a 65% difference. 13.0% of undergraduates receive Pell grants, the federal marker of low family income.

Net price varies enormously by income band, so run Purdue's net price calculator for your own household before drawing conclusions. Why net price is the only cost number that matters.

Programs and academics

Most popular majors

  1. 1Computer Science
  2. 2Mechanical Engineering
  3. 3Agricultural Sciences
  4. 4Aeronautical Engineering
  5. 5Nursing

Standout programs

  • College of Engineering
  • Aeronautics & Astronautics
  • Agriculture
  • Purdue Polytechnic
  • Flight program
Student-faculty ratio
14:1

IPEDS / National Center for Education StatisticsIPEDS 2023 fall enrollment

First-year retention
92.7%

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent first-year cohort, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Undergraduate enrollment
44,503

U.S. Dept. of Education College ScorecardMost recent reported year, College Scorecard June 2026 release

Purdue: questions families ask

Purdue has deliberately frozen tuition since 2012 under a sustained institutional cost-control strategy, holding in-state tuition at $9,992. Because inflation has continued, students today pay meaningfully less in real dollars than students did in 2012. The freeze has been extended repeatedly and is a core part of the university's public commitment.

Yes — its College of Engineering ranks in the national top ten, and aeronautics and astronautics is among the strongest in the country. Purdue has graduated more astronauts than any institution outside the service academies. The unusual part is that it delivers this at a 49.9% acceptance rate and $9,992 in-state tuition.

Similar colleges

Matched on institutional character, overlapping majors and comparable cross-source standing.

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GAPublic

Georgia Tech delivers private-university engineering outcomes at public tuition: median earnings of $102,772 ten years after entry against in-state tuition of $12,058. Its Industrial & Systems Engineering program has been ranked #1 in the country for three decades, and the co-op program places students in paid, multi-semester industry rotations.

Acceptance rate
14.1%
Average net price
$12,116
Median earnings (10 yr)
$102,772
6-yr graduation rate
94.0%
US News · National universities#32 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#32 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#21 of 442+3 more on profile

18,785 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 5 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TXPublic

UT Austin pairs a top-30 national ranking with in-state tuition of $11,688 and Texas's automatic admission law, which guarantees a place to students in the top 6% of their high school class. Accounting and petroleum engineering are ranked #1 nationally, and the Austin technology market absorbs graduates directly.

Acceptance rate
26.6%
Average net price
$19,857
Median earnings (10 yr)
$75,121
6-yr graduation rate
88.9%
US News · National universities#30 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#46 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#39 of 442+3 more on profile

42,855 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 6 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MIPublic

Michigan is the strongest all-around public university in the country by breadth, ranking top-25 nationally while enrolling 34,177 undergraduates. In-state students pay about $18,000 in tuition for a program that competes with private universities charging three times that; out-of-state students pay roughly $60,000 and receive limited need-based aid.

Acceptance rate
15.6%
Average net price
$13,138
Median earnings (10 yr)
$83,648
6-yr graduation rate
93.2%
US News · National universities#20 of 436Forbes · Top colleges (Forbes)#21 of 500Washington Monthly · National universities#29 of 442+3 more on profile

34,177 undergraduates · mean consensus percentile 4 (across ranked lists; lower is better)

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