About Purdue University, West Lafayette:

Purdue University is the flagship institution of the Purdue University system, founded in 1869. The campus is located in the small city of West Lafayette – the most densely populated city in the state of Indiana. There are 13 academic colleges and schools offering more than 200 different undergraduate majors, 70 postgraduate programmes and vocational degrees. The very first PhD awarded by the university in 1897 was in agricultural, in line with the college’s long tradition in agricultural science and engineering. The first Bachelor of Arts degree was not offered until 1959. Even today, the engineering programme is still the most reputed and competitive, and the university has been influential on the history of aviation in the United States over the years. The very first college credit in flight training and the first four-year bachelor programme in aviation were offered by Purdue. In 1934 Purdue University Airport was established as the first university-owned airport in the country. Twenty-three Purdue alumni have become astronauts, including Neil Armstrong – the first person to walk on the moon – and Eugene Cernan – the last person to walk on the moon. In 2010 the newest school was founded: The College of Health and Human Sciences, combining the School of Nursing, the School of Health Sciences, the College of Consumer and Family Sciences and psychology and hearing and speech pathology majors from the College of Liberal Arts. In addition to more than 400 research labs, the Purdue Research Park, established in 1961, enables the university’s experienced researchers to develop their work in collaboration with private business and high-tech industries. Four Purdue scientists have won Nobel Prizes while at the university: Herbert C. Brown for Chemistry in 1979, Ei-ichi Negishi for Chemistry in 2010 and Otto Doering together with Kevin Gurney for Climate Change research in 2007. Among public universities in the United States, Purdue enrolled the most international students as of 2014. Twenty-two per cent of the student population is international, hailing from 126 different countries. On campus, the only building still standing from the original six buildings is University Hall – built in 1871, then known as the Main Building. John Purdue, the benefactor of the university, was buried directly across from its main entrance.



World University Rankings

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
World University Rankings - - - - - - - - - - 124 128 126 144 151 178 178 192

By Fields

Field 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Agriculture 26 31 22 29 29 36 39 43 46 46 47 54 50 51 51 57 64
Engineering 32 21 27 30 34 33 42 45 40 53 64 62 69 80 84 50 51
Life Sciences 166 156 169 155 154 152 169 173 175 174 194 210 200 213 219 236 263
Medicine - - - - - - - - - 301-350 351-400 351-400 351-400 401-450 451-500 451-500 -
Natural Sciences 60 48 56 56 53 47 58 55 57 62 65 71 80 81 96 90 97
Social Sciences 80 101 93 84 86 88 96 94 93 106 105 107 92 85 101 119 135

By Subjects

Subject 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Agricultural Sciences 25 29 41 34 35 34 32 34 31 32 38 31 38 39
Biology & Biochemistry - - - - - - - - 162 167 - 154 192 170
Chemistry 44 42 46 59 57 55 73 78 84 86 93 97 51 54
Chemical Engineering 84 72 53 59 79 75 97 112 119 133 145 138 49 42
Civil Engineering 19 34 50 40 46 33 32 49 54 50 34 31 21 18
Clinical Medicine - - - - - - - - 401-450 451-500 451-500 - - -
Computer Science 35 30 37 38 37 46 48 50 80 62 81 94 23 31
Economics & Business - - - - - - - - 59 47 - 56 76 115
Electrical Engineering 26 26 31 39 43 40 49 63 66 76 73 81 26 38
Environment / Ecology 118 132 124 131 136 129 126 121 131 128 - 160 169 144
Geosciences 98 91 89 100 108 104 103 93 112 103 - 115 117 120
Immunology - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Materials Science 57 66 56 69 67 71 85 87 89 96 97 95 62 60
Mathematics 68 48 47 67 57 55 74 48 54 62 60 66 37 40
Mechanical Engineering 15 10 8 13 20 27 31 35 40 42 54 46 13 18
Microbiology - - - - - - - - 140 144 - - - 214
Molecular Biology & Genetics - - - - - - - - 212 198 - 232 267 278
Neuroscience & Behavior - - - - - - - - 275 277 - - - -
Pharmacology & Toxicolog - 49 87 85 87 92 77 76 97 93 102 108 92 113
Physics 65 65 59 56 56 66 68 73 61 65 74 78 92 101
Plant & Animal Science 15 14 20 22 24 26 31 36 39 32 28 26 39 48
Psychiatry / Psychology - - - - - - - - 106 108 - 108 102 101
Social Sciences, General - - - - - - - - 130 116 94 129 135 153
Space Science - - - - - - - - 180 202 - 243 229 275
Energy Science & Engineering - - - - - - - - - - 156 176 92 97
Environmental Science & Engineering - - - - - - - - - - 142 160 59 65
Biomedical Engineering - - - - - - - - - - - - - -