Purdue University-Main Campus is a public institution in Indiana, enrolling 40,275 students as of 2024. It graduates 62% of students in four years, returns 93% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $13,722 a year after grants and scholarships. None of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated for Purdue University-Main Campus are flagged. This report benchmarks Purdue University-Main Campus's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.
Purdue University-Main Campus Inspection Flags
Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.
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Student Outcomes
How students at Purdue University-Main Campus complete their degrees, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
College Financial Health
How financially stable Purdue University-Main Campus is, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Value for Your Money
How Purdue University-Main Campus spends its budget and what families pay, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
How Much Will This Cost for Your Income Level?
Net price is the average annual out-of-pocket cost for first-time, full-time undergraduate students — tuition + fees + room & board, minus the grants and scholarships the institution reports providing to students in each income bracket. Select your household income below to see the reported figure for that group.
Purdue University-Main Campus — All Reported Indicators
Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Purdue University-Main Campus. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.
Student Outcomes
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Year Graduation Rate | 62.0% | +12.7% | 80th |
| Six-Year Graduation Rate | 83.0% | +2.5% | 90th |
| Full-Time Retention Rate | 93.0% | 0.0% | 90th |
| Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate | 72.5% | -4.0% | 86th |
| Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap | 12.5pp | +44.4% | 66th |
| Pell Share of Cohort | 16.3% | -6.9% | 11th |
Financial Health
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-to-Expense Ratio | 1.23× | +12.6% | 81st |
| Total FTE Enrollment | 40,275 | +16.2% | 99th |
| Endowment Value | $3.97B | +59.0% | 98th |
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $6.73B | +40.7% | 99th |
Value for Money
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructional Spending % | 42.0% | -1.6% | 80th |
| Student Support Spending % | 3.1% | -3.1% | 8th |
| Administrative Spending % | 9.0% | +26.4% | 13th |
| Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio | 4.98× | -22.2% | 88th |
| Average Net Price | $13,722 | +11.6% | 27th |
| Net Price: $0-30K Income | $5,098 | -15.0% | 9th |
| Net Price: $30K-48K Income | $6,241 | +6.6% | 11th |
| Net Price: $48-75K Income | $9,438 | +11.7% | 13th |
| Net Price: $75K-110K Income | $18,177 | +6.2% | 37th |
| Net Price: $110K+ Income | $22,742 | +9.0% | 39th |
Inspection Flags
| Flag | Section | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retention Below 80% Purdue University-Main Campus's retention rate stayed at or above 90% in all 5 reported years — above the 80% threshold. | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50% Purdue University-Main Campus's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 55% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold. | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points Purdue University-Main Campus's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10pp in 2 of 5 eligible years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold. | Student Outcomes | Cleared |
| Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0 Purdue University-Main Campus's ratio stayed at or above 1.0 in all 5 reported years — ending at 1.23× in 2024. | Financial Health | Cleared |
| Enrollment Declined 5% or More Purdue University-Main Campus's total enrollment grew from 34,649 to 40,275 students between 2020 and 2024 (+16.2%). | Financial Health | Cleared |
| Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15% Purdue University-Main Campus's endowment is $3.97B and grew +59.0% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold. | Financial Health | Cleared |
| High Cost, Low Completion Purdue University-Main Campus costs less than the national median AND graduates students at above-median rates — neither condition for this flag is met. | Value for Money | Cleared |
| Spending on Students Below the National Median Purdue University-Main Campus spends $4.98 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year. | Value for Money | Cleared |
| Rising Price, Falling Outcomes Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered. | Value for Money | Cleared |