Why Choose Purdue Graduate Studies?
Dedicated Faculty
Our world-renowned faculty tackles complex global issues every day. As a Purdue graduate student, you will receive personal mentoring from faculty throughout your plan of study. Here are some resources to help you select which faculty member in your department is a good fit for your research interests and career goals.
- 2023-2024 Purdue ties its Fulbright Scholar Awards Record, Eight Faculty Honored
- 2023 Faculty Awards Convocation Awardees
- 2022 Faculty Awards Convocation Awardees
- 2021 Faculty Awards Convocation Awardees
- 2020 Faculty Awards Convocation Awardees
- Purdue Recipients for National and International Awards
- Distinguished, Named University and Named Professors
- #4 Public University in Faculty Resources (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Impactful Research
Purdue is a worldwide leader in discovery and innovation. New investments in research are routine, like the recently announced one billion-dollar development of Purdue’s campus. Every new research award brings new opportunities to our programs of study and students.
- $613 million in research awards in 2022-2023 (record)
- Top 10 most innovative school in the U.S. 5 Years Running (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
- #3 Nationally for Startup Creation, Behind Only MIT and Columbia (IP Watchdog Institute, 2020)
- #4 in the U.S. for Utility Patents (U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office, 2023)
Cutting Edge Facilities
Between Discovery Park, the Purdue Research Foundation, 133 research centers, and 13 on-campus libraries, Purdue is positioned to be a worldwide innovative leader now and well into the future.
Financial Support
It pays to be a Purdue graduate student with various assistantships and fellowships available through the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars and individual departments.
- #1 Best Value University in Indiana (SmartAsset, 2023)
- #2 Best Value School in the Big Ten (SmartAsset, 2023)
- #6 Best Value School Among All Public Universities (SmartAsset, 2023)
- #15 Best Value Among All Nationwide Institutions (SmartAsset, 2023)
Active Campus Community
You’ll find many opportunities to meet new people. You'll never have a boring weekend with our graduate student organizations, convocations, cultural centers, recreation center, and Big Ten athletics.
- More than 1,000 student clubs and organizations
- State-of-the-art recreational sports center featuring 30+ club sports and dozens of intramural teams
- Five major cultural centers
- Multiple entertainment options - Broadway, theatre, dance, music, comedy, and influential speakers
- 12,136 graduate students from 120+ countries
Safe and Vibrant Community with a Low Cost of Living
West Lafayette and Lafayette boast a wide array of entertainment, food, shopping, and businesses. With a cost of living 17% lower than the national average, you'll find plenty of affordable housing options. Students also enjoy using the affordable city bus. The greater Lafayette area is centrally located - only 1 hour to Indianapolis and 2 hours to Chicago.
- #1 Best Emerging Housing Market (Greater Lafayette) (Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com, 2023)
- #1 Best Place in U.S. for Career Opportunities (Lafayette) (SmartAsset, 2022)
- #1 Best on List of Safest Colleges (Academic Influence, 2024)
- #8 Best College Town in America (Greater Lafayette) (WalletHub, 2022)
- #8 Best College Town in the U.S. for Starting a Career (Business Insider, 2019)
- #15 Safest U.S. College Town (Safewise, 2021)
Outstanding Career Preparation
Purdue offers career and professional development before and after graduation. We have graduate student job fairs and travel grants to take you to conferences nationwide. With a network of over 600,000 alumni, your relationship with Purdue will extend long after graduation.
- #1 Best Place for Career Opportunities (Smart Asset, 2022)
- #1 in Big 10 for producing the highest portion of graduates earning more than a high school graduate (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- Top 3 Best Large Employers Among U.S. Universities (Forbes, 2024)
- Top 5 in graduate earnings (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #7 Co-Op and Internship Opportunities (tied with MIT) (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #8 Most Alumni Serving as Fortune 500 CEOs (Academic Influence, 2021)
- #18 Best Career Placement Among Public Schools (The Princeton Review, 2024)
- #16 World's Most Innovative Companies (Fast Company, 2023)
- #36 Most Employable University Graduates (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2022)
- #39 Most Employable University Graduates in the U.S. (Times Higher Education, 2024)
Reputation
- #1 Most Recognized U.S. Public University (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #1 Public University in Indiana (U.S. News &World Report, 2025), (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025), (Niche, 2024) and (Forbes, 2023)
- #1 University in the Big 10 (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #1 University in Indiana (by at least 90 spots) (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #1 National Public University (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #2 University in Indiana (Forbes, 2023), (Niche, 2024) and (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
- #2 Public University in the World (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #4 Most Trusted Public University in the U.S. (Morning Consult, 2022)
- #6 Big Ten University (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2025)
- #8 U.S. Public University (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2025) and (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- #8 Public Land Grant University (Times Higher Education, 2025) and (U.S. News and World Report, 2024)
- #9 Most Innovative School (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
- #9 Land Grant University (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2024)
- #9 Most Recognized Public University Globally (American Caldwell GUV Rankings, 2025)
- #12 National Campus-Wide Sustainability Efforts (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2024)
- #13 Public University (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- #18 Public University (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
- #19 Best National Public University (Forbes, 2023)
- #24 Best National Public University (Niche, 2024)
- #24 National University (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2025)
- #32 Best Colleges for Future Leaders (TIME and Statista, 2024)
- #32 Best University in the U.S. (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- #46 National University (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
- #51 University in the U.S. (Forbes, 2023)
- #79 Worldwide University (only global top 100 in Indiana) (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- #89 Global Public University (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2025)
- #93 Worldwide Campus-Wide Sustainability Efforts (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, 2024)
Affordability
- #1 Best Value University in Indiana (Smart Asset, 2023)
- #2 Best Value University in the Big 10 (Smart Asset, 2023)
- #3 Best Value University in Indiana (Niche, 2024)
- #6 Best Value Public University in the U.S. (SmartAsset, 2023)
- #7 Best Value School in the U.S. (The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, 2022)
- Top 10 Best Value Public University in the U.S. (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
- #15 Best Value University in the U.S. (Smart Asset, 2023)
- #20 Best Value Public University (Princeton Review, 2024)
- 13 Years of Straight Frozen Tuition
Innovation
- #1 Most Innovative Educational Institution Worldwide for Training Semiconductor Engineers (Fast Company, 2023)
- #3 Most Innovative U.S. Public University (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
- #3 National Startup Creation (Behind Only MIT and Columbia) and (IP Watchdog Institute, 2020)
- #4 Nationally for Patents (National Academy of Inventors, 2022) and (U.S. Patents and Trademark Office, 2023)
- #5 Internationally for Patents (U.S. Patents and Trademark Office, 2023)
- #9 Most Innovative National University (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #16 Most Innovative Company Worldwide (Fast Company, 2023)
- Only University Among Brands That Matter (For Three Years Running) (Fast Company, 2023)
Campus Culture
- #1 Best Campus for LGBTQ+ students in Indiana (Best Colleges, 2023)
- #2 Institution in the Big Ten for International Student Enrollment (Open Doors Report, 2023)
- #3 U.S. Public University for International Enrollment (Open Doors Report, 2023)
- #8 U.S. Institution for International Student Enrollment (Open Doors, 2024)
- #14 Best University for Veterans (College Consensus, 2023)
- #24 Among all U.S. Doctoral Institutions in the Number of Study Abroad Students (Open Doors, 2023)
- 12,136 graduate students from 120+ countries
Top Ranked Programs
Biological Sciences
- The Biological Sciences graduate program is ranked #50 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Chemistry
- The Chemistry graduate program is ranked #27, with Analytical Chemistry ranked #1 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Communication
- The Communication online master's graduate program is ranked #1 (MastersinCommunication.org, 2023)
Computer Science
- The Computer Science graduate program is ranked #19 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with specific graduate programs ranked as follows:
- #13 Systems (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #15 Programming Language (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #26 Artificial Intelligence (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
- The Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences graduate program is ranked #42 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Economics
- The Economics' graduate program is ranked #49 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Education
- The College of Education is ranked #48 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with it's online master's degree program ranked #15 (U.S. News & World Report, 2023) and #1 in Indiana (U.S. News and World Report, 2025), with specific online master's degree programs ranked as follows:
- #6 Curriculum and Instruction (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
- #10 Instructional Media Design (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #10 Learning Design and Technology (U.S. News and World Report, 2024)
- #11 Educational Administration (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
- #13 Special Education (U.S. News and World Report, 2025)
Engineering
- The College of Engineering is ranked #6 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with specific graduate programs ranked as follows:
- #1 Agricultural and Biological Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #2 Aeronautics and Astronautics (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #5 Civil Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #6 Industrial Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #7 Biomedical Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
- #7 Electrical Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #8 Mechanical Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #8 Computer Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #9 Environmental and Ecological Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
- #10 Nuclear Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #12 Materials Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- The College of Engineering online master's degree program is ranked #3 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with specific online master's degree programs ranked as follows:
- #1 Most Affordable in Computer Engineering (Best Universities, 2024)
- #1 Engineering Management (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #1 Industrial Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #1 Mechanical Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #2 Civil Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #3 Electrical Engineering (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #5 Online Master's programs for Veterans (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
English
- The English graduate program is ranked #46 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Management (Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business)
- Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business graduate programs are ranked as follows:
- #3 Production and Operations Management MBA program (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #4 Project Management MBA program (College Consensus, 2024) and (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #7 Supply Chain Management/Logistics (College Consensus, 2024) and (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #12 Business Analytics and Information Management (U.S. News & World Report, 2023)
- #26 Best Accelerated One-Year MBA (College Consensus, 2024)
- #35 Part-Time MBA (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Mathematics
- The Mathematics graduate program is ranked #37 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with specific graduate programs ranked as follows:
- #20 Analysis (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #24 Applied Math (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Nursing
- #22 Best Nursing Schools at the master's level (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #24 Best Doctor of Nursing Practice (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
- The School of Pharmacy is ranked #9 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Physics and Astronomy
- The Department of Physics graduate program is ranked #38 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Psychological Sciences
- The Department of Psychology graduate program is ranked #46 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025) and #3 in Indiana (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), with specific graduate programs ranked as follows:
- #7 Industrial-Organizational Psychology (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- #43 Clinical Psychology (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Speech, Language, and Hearing Science
- The Speech-Language Pathology graduate program is ranks #2 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
- The Audiology graduate program is ranked #8 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Statistics
- The Statistics graduate program is ranked #22 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Veterinary Medicine
- The School of Veterinary Medicine is ranked #11 (U.S. News & World Report, 2025)
Statistics last updated February 14, 2024.