Purdue University-Main Campus
Public Research University in West Lafayette, IN. Six-year graduation rate 83%. Median 10-year earnings $72,424.
A decade after enrolling, the median Purdue University-Main Campus student earns $72,424 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 83% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $19,500, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 83% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 50% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool is large — 78,745 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. 29% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 600–720 | 9,110 (79%) |
| SAT Math | 600–760 | |
| ACT Composite | 27–34 | 2,898 (25%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Purdue University-Main Campus →Academics
83% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 93% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The part-time picture is harder: 58% return, against 93% full-time. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 39,637 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $13,722 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $5,098 while those at $110k+ pay $22,742. Only 44% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. Only 23% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 9,295 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $5,098 |
| $30–48k | $6,241 |
| $48–75k | $9,438 |
| $75–110k | $18,177 |
| $110k+ | $22,742 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 8,949 of these 39,637 students, totalling $54,913,096 — an average of $6,136 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Tippecanoe County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)