Purdue University named No. 6 Best Value among public universities in the U.S., No. 15 overall by SmartAsset

Purdue has once again earned national recognition as one of the best higher education values in the entire country

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University has been named the Best Value university in Indiana and one of the best in the nation in the latest ranking by SmartAsset, an online financial advisor and financial services portal. This latest national accolade recognizes Purdue’s ongoing commitment to the vision of higher education at the highest proven value.

SmartAsset determined the colleges and universities that provide the best value to students in its annual rankings, which were released earlier this month. Besides being the top value in the state of Indiana, Purdue also ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten, No. 6 among public universities in the U.S. and No. 15 among all institutions nationwide. SmartAsset’s methodology for determining best value was based on a variety of financial factors and data sets including starting salary, tuition, student living expenses, student retention rate and scholarships awarded.

“Having just celebrated yet another record-breaking year for undergraduate applications and enrollment, we strive to achieve excellence at scale by including as many as possible at Purdue,” said Purdue President Mung Chiang. “The choice to freeze tuition through the 2024-25 school year underlines Purdue’s commitment to providing an educational value that is second to none nationwide, so we take extreme pride in this recognition.”

Additional Information 

• Purdue University earns ‘Most Innovative’ recognition again in U.S. News & World Report rankings
• Purdue University ascends to the top 10 of the Global University Visibility rankings
• Purdue in scores top 10 among U.S. public universities in QS world rankings  

The SmartAsset rankings gave Purdue an overall College Education Value score of 86.80 out of 100, which included high marks for student retention rate (91% — national average was 70%) and starting salary ($66,500 — national average was $53,663). That overall score placed Purdue’s value ahead of the University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; the University of Texas at Austin; and UCLA, among others. The formula uniquely ranked universities state by state as well, placing Purdue No. 1 in the state of Indiana over the University of Notre Dame (75.14), Wabash College (74.58) and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (72.83).

With the core pillar of excellence at scale in mind, Purdue University's Board of Trustees voted in June to again freeze tuition, this time for the 11th and 12th consecutive years. By 2024-25, 10 Purdue graduating classes will have never experienced a tuition increase during their time in West Lafayette. Meanwhile, more students than ever are seeking a Purdue degree, as 72,600 applied for undergraduate admission for the fall 2023 semester, and more employers than ever are seeking out Purdue graduates.

SmartAsset’s Best Value ranking comes on the heels of Purdue’s best-ever showing of No. 43 overall (No. 17 among public universities) in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best College rankings, along with several other recent prominent accolades:

• Purdue scored a top 10 placement among U.S. public universities and ranked No. 27 among all U.S. universities in the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University rankings in June, which includes both undergraduate and graduate/research components.
• In July, Purdue was ranked the No. 3 most recognized public university in the U.S. and No. 10 worldwide in the Global University Visibility rankings.
• Purdue was also named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies — coming in at No. 16 overall and No. 1 in education — and the only university among Fast Company magazine’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies.
• Another best value recognition came from the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings, which placed Purdue at No. 7 in the Best Value category — tops in the Big Ten — in 2021.

About Purdue University 

Purdue University is a public research institution with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top 4 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, with 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 12 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 new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes, at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives. 

Writer/Media contact: Derek Schultz, dcschultz@purdue.edu