Purdue applicant number and yield rate at unprecedented levels: Demand for Purdue undergraduate and graduate education sets new records

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s laser focus on excellence and affordability once again has translated into record enrollment numbers for the fall 2024 semester, as increasing demand for a Purdue education set new records in applicant numbers and produced a yield rate — of prospective new students accepting their offers — significantly higher than it has been in a decade.

Enrollment of new undergraduate students across both locations of Purdue’s main campus can be highlighted through three numbers, the multiplication of which leads to the enrollment number. Applicant numbers and yield rate reflect how students make their choices.

• Applicant numbers: set a record at 78,526
• Admission rate: a record low at 49.8%
• Yield rate (post “summer melt”): surprisingly higher than the 10-year trend at 29.1% and the highest since the use of Common App

Purdue’s total enrollment for West Lafayette and Indianapolis locations is 58,009. That figure includes 10,628 new-beginner students in West Lafayette campus plus 760 new-beginner students in Indianapolis, an expansion of Purdue’s main campus launched this fall in the state’s capital city after IUPUI was dissolved.

Provost Patrick Wolfe said, “We are incredibly proud to see our decade-long trend of unprecedented demand for a Purdue education accelerate — with our most selective and most qualified incoming class ever — and, crucially, establish itself rapidly at our new Indianapolis location.”

A key driver for the record enrollment: This fall’s class of undergraduate students in West Lafayette and Indianapolis was selected at an admission rate of 49.8% from a record-setting pool of 78,526 applicants, with a significantly higher-than-historical (post “summer melt”) yield rate of 29.1%. Purdue will take into account the historic jump in yield rate and reduce the admission rate further next year.

By the numbers, the total head count for fall 2024 includes a record 44,170 undergraduates at both West Lafayette and Indianapolis from all 50 states and over 120 countries. The number of underrepresented minorities increased by 614 students this year, representing 12.5% of the undergraduate population. Total head count also includes 12,917 graduate students, the most ever, pursuing advanced degrees — up 51% over the past decade. Another 922 students are pursuing professional degrees.

“Excellence at scale is truly reflected in our bright and motivated students who have chosen this university for their undergraduate and graduate studies,” Purdue President Mung Chiang said.

For Indiana resident applicants, 74% were offered admission to Purdue’s main campus this year, compared to 45% for out-of-state applicants, and most other in-state applicants received offers of admission elsewhere within the Purdue system.

“Purdue is serving the most Indiana students in our history, with students from every Indiana county enrolled,” said Cherise Hall, vice provost for enrollment management.

Total enrollment (both undergraduate and graduate students) includes 1,619 Black or African American students and 4,032 Hispanic students — both numbers the highest in at least 15 years. The racial diversity of new students from Indiana is also higher than it has been for at least 15 years, with a higher number of Indiana residents who are Black (897) and Hispanic (1,903).

Seventy-one percent of undergraduate applications came from Purdue’s College of Engineering (28,134), College of Science (18,912) and the newly reimagined Mitch Daniels School of Business (8,322).

Purdue’s record graduate enrollment includes over 5,584 residential PhD students across 89 areas of study, more than 3,400 master’s students enrolled through Purdue University Online and nearly 3,200 residential master’s students, among others.

With affordability and accessibility at the forefront of its mission and buoyed by nearly a decade of record enrollment totals, Purdue has kept tuition at $9,992 per year for Indiana residents and $28,794 for out-of-state students for 12 consecutive years since 2012-13.

The average SAT score for students accepted this fall was 1,328, also an all-time high, while the average beginning-student GPA was 3.76, just slightly below the 3.78 average GPA posted in fall 2023, which was that measure’s highest mark in 15 years.

Purdue systemwide enrollment

• Polytechnic statewide: 550. Purdue Polytechnic Institute degrees are offered in Anderson, Columbus, Indianapolis International Airport, Kokomo, Subaru Manufacturing Campus, New Albany, Richmond, South Bend and Vincennes.
• Additionally, fall 2024 enrollment (undergraduate, graduate and online) reached 6,536 at Purdue Northwest and 6,284 at Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Purdue Global, the university’s accredited and affordable online solution designed for the working adult with life experience, reported an enrollment of 36,122 for September 2024.
• Total enrollment for the Purdue system is at a record 107,501 students.

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.