A year of record-setting milestones across key indicators at Purdue University

As the new academic year begins, Purdue University’s execution for excellence at scale in the areas of learning, research and engagement has led to new records in almost all dimensions during the fiscal year that ran from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Financials and physical facilities

Purdue’s trend of breaking key institutionwide records during fiscal year 2024 extended across the philanthropic sector. The university set records for new gift commitments and philanthropic cash in 2024. New gift commitments reached $632.3 million, which broke the record of $610.3 million set a year ago. The philanthropic cash total of $349.8 million broke the 2022 record of $245.3 million. These efforts were propelled by continued growth in the number of donors, which rose to 85,421, a record for total annual donors outside a major campaign. The university’s endowment climbed to $4.1 billion, reflecting an 11.6% return. And $1.5 billion worth of construction and major renovations on 28 campus projects were started, with an industry-high 87-88% of them on time and on budget.

Research awards and national center wins

Purdue’s sponsored program awards climbed to a record $757.5 million from $622.4 million the previous fiscal year. Research awards from external sources reached a record $647.7 million, up from $613.3 million a year ago, a figure considered a high benchmark for a university without a medical school. Purdue also signed nine new master research agreements with industry partners, including one as part of the landmark announcement by South Korea-based SK hynix to invest nearly $4 billion to build an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility for artificial intelligence semiconductor products in the Purdue Research Park. Additionally, Purdue was the only university in the U.S. as a leading university partner in winning all three national hub competitions last year — Heartland BioWorks, Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, and Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons — focused on ensuring the U.S. remains globally competitive in key national security areas.

Patents and startups

A barometer of Purdue’s thriving entrepreneurship culture, intellectual property disclosures surged to a record 466 from 400 in fiscal 2023, the Office of Technology Commercialization reported. Additionally, 290 patents were issued, while the number of patent licenses skyrocketed to a record 224. This ecosystem helped establish 16 startup companies based on Purdue research.

Faculty awards, citations and books

The number of research publication citations by Purdue faculty rose nearly 13% to 435,087, while the number of books published by faculty jumped nearly 40% to 60. Meanwhile, 40 faculty members received prestigious awards, up 11% from the number recognized last year.

Undergraduate applications and admissions

Purdue welcomed its most selective class of undergraduate students for the 2024-25 academic year. This fall’s projected class of undergraduate Boilermakers starting in West Lafayette and the new urban campus Indianapolis was selected at a 49.8% admission rate from a record-setting pool of 78,522 applicants, with a post-summer-melt yield rate at a record 30%, significantly higher than all historical data. Their average SAT score was a record 1329, up 10 points from last year.

Graduation rates and earnings-to-debt ratio

The number of Boilermakers graduating in four years rose to 67%, the highest in recent record, and the six-year graduation rate remained at 84%, vs. 74% in 2008. Another positive pocketbook trend: The number of Boilermakers graduating without debt was up 3 percentage points to 64%, while the earnings-to-debt ratio increased further to 6.7.

Graduate applications and admissions

As goes the undergraduate student trend, so goes the demand for advanced degrees. Sparked by progress in achieving excellence at scale academically, graduate student applications reached another record level. PhD candidate applications hit 11,677, while master’s student applications climbed to 14,403, both new records in recent memory.

Online enrollment

Purdue’s ongoing commitment to growing its online offerings is drawing increased interest and activity. Enrollment in Purdue’s online master’s degree programs rose 23% to a record 5,245 students. The number of students taking online post-bachelor certificate classes surged 56% to 15,955. Total number of Purdue University’s online students exceeded 20,000 for the first time, in addition to almost 13,000 residential undergraduates taking at least one course online.

Athletics

Excitement at Purdue wasn’t confined to classrooms and research labs. Athletics had a banner year, as the men’s basketball team registered its winningest season in program history, with 34 victories. Led by the first ever two-time unanimous National Player of the Year Zach Edey, the Boilermakers appeared in their first national championship game since 1969 as March Madness captivated Boiler nation. At the same time, the six-year graduation rate for our student-athletes hit a record 90%, their average GPA was 3.2 and career placement was 100%.

Reputation and visibility

In both QS and Times Higher Ed worldwide rankings, Purdue is ranked among top 10 American public universities. Purdue has enjoyed six straight years as a top 10 Most Innovative university as designated by U.S. News & World Report, and 13 undergraduate programs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation in its 2024 survey. Overall, Purdue ranked No. 43 among 435 U.S. universities, up eight spots from 2023 and rising to the highest position in school history.

Earned media placements jumped 34% to a record 119,345, while social media impressions skyrocketed to 160 million. Listeners to the “This Is Purdue” podcast reached 2.2 million, ranking tops in Apple podcasts’ education category. Visits to purdue.edu topped 15.8 million, up 9%.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.