Purdue University Campus Life: Photos, Videos, Location

Founded in 1869, Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. The main campus of Purdue is situated near the western bank of the Wabash River and is divided by the northern and southern portions of the campus. The overall Purdue campus size is nearly 2,500 acres. The academic buildings are present on the eastern part of the campus, the residence hall and intramural fields are in the west, and athletic facilities are in the north. As per the enrollment statistics, over 78,000 students applied for admission to Purdue University, of which more than 11,400 students enrolled as per latest data.

Purdue University Campus Overview

Purdue University offers various facilities to its students, including research opportunities, sustainability, housing, activities and events, and religious organizations. A few of the facilities and service offered at Purdue is discussed below:

• Activities and events: Purdue offers more than 1,000 student organizations. Some popular clubs include the Reamer Club (which works for the football team and raises funds for scholarships), the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. Students also raise funds through the Purdue Grand Prix (a 50-mile, 160-lap go-kart race) and the Purdue University Dane Marathon (PUDM).
• Housing: Purdue provides the nation’s largest Greek communities with 40 fraternities and 30 sororities. One-third of the UG students live in university-owned buildings and the rest students prefer fraternities, sororities, cooperatives, or private off-campus housing. Purdue claims over 10,000 spaces in residence halls for students on campus.
• Research opportunities: The university has over 400 research laboratories and is among the leading research institutions. Purdue is also renowned for providing knowledge, assistance, and solutions in areas like Agriculture; Business and Economy; Education; Engineering; Environment; Healthcare; and more.
• Religious organizations: Purdue has organizations for catholic, Islamic, Jewish, and more communities. It has Thomas Aquinas Catholic church near campus that serves catholic communities, and Hillel foundations and Chabad for Jewish organizations.

Purdue University Athletics

Purdue University is one of the universities whose athletic programs are not funded by the students. It is home to 18 Division I/I-AAA teams and offers a variety of sports including Baseball, Basketball, Football, Golf, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Wrestling, and many more. Moreover, it provides 30+ Club Sports programs for those interested in high-level competitions as well as Intramural Sports for those seeking a more casual yet enjoyable way of keeping themselves active.

Some of the fun and interesting facts about Purdue University Athletics are below for students’ knowledge:

• Purdue’s football team is known as ‘Boilermaker’ and represents the university in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
• Purdue is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and contributed much to its creation.
• In 1887, Purdue’s first football team selected colors like old gold and black to resemble the orange-black color of Princeton (one of the successful teams).

Purdue University Top Courses

Purdue University offers more than 200 undergraduate and over 160 graduate programs to international students. Some popular courses include Engineering, Business, Computer and Information Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, and Health Professions. Some of the popular majors include:

• • Engineering 
  • Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services 
  • Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services 
  • Biological and Biomedical Sciences 

Purdue University Housing

Purdue University provides diverse housing options to its international students. Students can customize their housing needs based on their academic year, winter break, summer class, or internship.

Purdue also allows its students to choose meal plans depending on their dining preferences and frequency. The meal plan rate and some of the Purdue University costs for housing, along with housing options and their rates per person, are given below:  

Note: There are a lot more options available for housing at Purdue. Students can check other options along with the rates from the official source.