Student affordability, faculty and staff compensation, strategic investments highlight 2023 Purdue budget

Tuition will remain frozen on Purdue’s main campus for the 10th consecutive year, keeping base undergraduate tuition and fees for Indiana residents under $10,000 per year. The total cost of attending Purdue continues to be less today than in 2012, with tuition held flat and lower room and board rates. The tuition freeze saves students over $150 million per year for a cumulative total of over a billion dollars, compared to if Purdue had had annual increases at the Big Ten average, and debt per undergraduate student has declined 36% since 2012. Meanwhile, institutional aid grew 95% between 2008 and 2016.

Faculty and staff compensation merit for Purdue West Lafayette will be set at 4%, plus 1% for targeted market adjustments – the largest increase in more than 20 years and believed to be on the high end among peer institution increases. Even with no compensation increase in 2021 because of the global pandemic, Purdue’s average increase has been higher since the tuition freeze than it was in the decade before the freeze.

Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will have 3% and 2% faculty and staff merit increases, respectively.

Also included in the West Lafayette expenditures are strategic investments targeted to three key areas:

• $30 million for Year 2 of the five-year investment in Purdue’s Next Moves.
• $13 million in targeted market adjustments to salaries to ensure competitive salaries for faculty, staff and graduate assistants – in addition to the 4% merit pool noted above.
• $10 million for enrollment growth and other programmatic initiatives, pushing the total of recurring investments made to support enrollment growth to $37 million.

Meanwhile, over a half billion dollars in recent facility improvement projects have been approved on the West Lafayette campus. These include Dudley Hall and Lambertus Hall, the David and Bonnie Brunner Purdue Veterinary Medical Hospital Complex, Chaney-Hale Hall of Science, College of Agricultural and Biological Engineering building renovation, Hagle Hall, Schleman Hall of Student Services and Stewart Center renovations, and the High-Speed Propulsion Laboratory.

Tuition and fees at Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will follow the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s recommended increase of up to 1.45%. The increases will be used to fund operating budgets, including faculty and staff salaries and benefits, scholarships, supplies, services, and repair and rehabilitation.

Trustees endorsed the following total operating expenditures for fiscal year 2023:

• At the West Lafayette campus: $2.363 billion.
• At Purdue Fort Wayne: $148 million.
• At Purdue Northwest: $141 million.

Systemwide revenues are budgeted at $2.736 billion – a 1% increase compared with fiscal year 2022, driven by West Lafayette undergraduate enrollment increases; increased revenue from research, hospitality and other services; and modest improvements in investment earnings. Revenues are expected to exceed expenditures by $84 million for an operating surplus of 3%.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last four years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.