Purdue ranked nation’s No. 1 most recognized public university

Conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based firm American Caldwell, the GUV rankings placed Purdue ahead of institutions such as the University of Michigan; the University of California, Berkeley; Yale University; and the University of Toronto (Canada). Purdue came in as the No. 2 public university in the world, behind only Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil); was the top-ranked university in the Big Ten; and outranked every other Indiana university by at least 90 spots overall.

“This year’s GUV data demonstrated, once again, Purdue’s continued elevation in visibility in the world,” Purdue President Mung Chiang said. “This recognition is not just about the Boilermakers’ impact, but equally importantly, it’s about our marketing, branding and communication team’s creative and outstanding work in elevating the university’s reputation: They pour their heart each day into this mission with great results, and this ranking is a tribute to them.” 

The GUV ranking offers a comprehensive evaluation of a university’s global visibility. This year’s ranking incorporated more metrics for tracking each university, but the methodology remained rooted in six key indicators: the frequency and quality of universities’ news mentions; their online footprint; their social media following; the level of public interest; the number of web citations; and the number of website visitors. Purdue University performed well in those categories, notably generating nearly 16 million visits to the recently enhanced Purdue.edu — the seventh-highest number of website visitors of any university across the globe — leading to its impressive placement among the world’s most recognized institutions.

In the public interest category, Purdue continues to bolster its worldwide presence and prestige through impactful international partnerships with industry and educational leaders. In April, SK hynix Inc., a market leader in chips manufacturing, announced plans to invest close to $4 billion to build an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility for AI products in the Purdue Research Park. Purdue is actively adding to an ever-expanding list of global initiatives with industry leaders in Japan, France, India, Korea, Belgium, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic as well as educational partners in Greece and England.

Purdue also is the only U.S. higher education institution selected as a leading university partner in all three national hubs funded through the CHIPS and Science Act and announced in 2023-24. Those hubs are the Heartland BioWorks, the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen and the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons.

In visibility, innovation and academic excellence, Purdue has repeatedly received acclaim and praise. The No. 9 GUV ranking is the latest addition to this impressive list over the past year:

• Purdue was recognized, in another global ranking, among the world’s best and No. 8 among public universities by Quacquarelli Symonds in the latest QS World University Rankings.
• Purdue scored its best-ever undergraduate ranking in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report undergraduate ranking, climbing to No. 43 among the 400-plus universities ranked.
• U.S. News & World Report named Purdue as a top 10 Most Innovative school for the sixth consecutive year, ranking the university as No. 7 Most Innovative in the nation.
• Purdue was also in the top 100 of the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, placing No. 9 among U.S. public land-grant universities.
• For the second year in a row, Purdue placed fifth internationally and in the top four for U.S. universities in U.S. patents received.

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 Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.