Purdue: First year enrollment ‘Unprecedented’

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — Purdue University has released its 2021 enrollment figures and it includes a record freshman class of 10,191 Boilermakers. The university says the large class is due to “an unprecedented and unanticipated jump” in the rate of out-of-state U.S. applicants who accepted offers.

The overall enrollment is 49,639, which the school says is also a record.

Purdue says it had projected a 2021 incoming undergraduate class of 8,450 students. But it says the acceptance rate was three percent higher from out of state students. About 40% of the first-year class is from Indiana.

The university says having kept tuition at the same level for a decade is also a factor in attracting students.

“We continually hear from families and students about our ability to keep tuition affordable and the exceptional quality of our academic programs,” said Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “Families and students also have shared with us that the success of the Protect Purdue Plan and the way we navigated the first year of the pandemic made their decision to come to Purdue that much easier.”

The university says its response to the pandemic played a role in the admissions level. It says over 46% said the university’s pandemic response was somewhat, very or extremely influential in their decision. Purdue says the trend held regardless of whether the applicant was from Indiana or elsewhere.