Budget

ACCESS AND SUCCESS

Purdue is receiving national recognition for its retention efforts. U.S. News “Best College” edition for 2009 named Purdue one of 26 pubic institutions with an exemplary first-year experience.

Seventy-one percent of Purdue undergraduate students at WL graduate in six years. The rate is significantly greater than the state average of 53% but below the mean for the Big Ten and our peers. The mean in the Big Ten is 77.3%.

The retention rate for first-year students is 87.2% (Fall 2008). This is the highest first-to-second year retention rate in the institution’s history and represents a 3% increase over the past three years. Several initiatives are under way to continue this positive trend.

• Beginning in fall 2011, Purdue will require all students to take four years of college preparatory math in high school.
• The faculty is considering establishing a core curriculum that would help students who choose to transfer between majors.
• All freshmen and transfers are now required to take part in the Summer Transition, Advising and Registration program.
• Freshmen and transfers are strongly encouraged to live in residence halls and participate in Boiler Gold Rush, both strongly associated with higher retention rates. A record 80% of all freshmen participated this year. Freshmen are also encouraged to take part in Learning Communities.
• Students who take part in learning communities and BGR have significantly higher retention rates than non-participants – with the newest Learning Community participants’ rate exceeding 92%.
• We will expand the Signals project to help more than 7,000 students succeed in 100- and 200-level courses. It was recently featured NBC Nightly News.

What is the real cost to attend Purdue if scholarship and other need-based funds are taken into consideration?

The true cost for many in-state undergraduates is much less than the sticker price. For 2009-2010, the average total cost at Purdue West Lafayette is estimated to be $20,638, which depends on students' housing and meal-plan choices. Those who chose to live in University Residences can chose rooms and meal plans that range from $6,526 to $14,832.

Purdue provides significant financial support through gift funds, federal and state aid, and other sources. Aid from the Purdue general fund is expected to exceed $31.9 million for FY10. The net cost depends on family resources and eligibility for merit aid.
New freshmen with family incomes of less than $40,000 paid an average of $5,293 for tuition, fees, and room and board in 2008-09. Many were able to pay the rest with external scholarships, work-study and loans.

Of all the scholarships and grant funds awarded to Purdue undergraduates in the 2008-09 academic year, 43% were university funded, 28% were federally funded, 19% were state funded, and 10% were privately funded.

Purdue’s Access and Success Campaign is generating more funds for new scholarships. For freshmen from Indiana who enrolled Fall 2009, two new scholarships are available:

• For students whose families earn less than $40,000 and who qualify as Twenty-first Century Scholars, nearly the entire cost is covered.
• The Purdue Marquis Scholarship Program helps middle-income Indiana students in the top half of their Purdue class whose families earn between $40,000 and $100,000 annually and who qualify for minimal or no state and federal aid.
• Significant funds also are set aside for scholarships based on merit only.

Total financial assistance that will be awarded to Purdue undergraduates system-wide in the 2009-10 academic year is expected to reach nearly $500 million, of which $103 million will come from institutional sources.

Purdue is overrepresented for those with family incomes less than $10,000 (11.7% for Purdue students/families compared to 4.4% for the state). Census data for Indiana shows 41.8% of Purdue families have incomes less than $50,000. Purdue system-wide admits 46.1% undergraduate Indiana residents who reported income less than $50,000 (on the FAFSA).

Where does Purdue stand relative to the other Big Ten public institutions on tuition and fees?

Purdue is among the lowest. For Purdue to reach the mean for resident undergraduate students, it would need to increase tuition and fees 22% (27% for Big Ten and peers). An even bigger increase would be required for resident graduate students to reach the Big Ten mean.

In other words, undergraduate residents of Indiana are getting a good deal compared with undergraduates from other states attending their respective state universities. Resident graduate students are getting an even better deal.

The range of tuition and fee rates for in-state residents at Big 10 public institutions for 2009-10 is $6,824 (Iowa) to $14,416, (Penn State). Only the University of Wisconsin and Iowa have lower resident rates than Purdue.

Purdue receives 22% less in state appropriations per FTE than peer/Big Ten public institutions. The WL general educational revenue budget FY10 is funded largely by tuition (58%) and state appropriations (30%).
Purdue is in the bottom quadrant of low tuition and low state support.
Purdue charges only 82% of the mean for resident undergraduate students and 72% of the mean for resident graduate students.

Where does Purdue stand relative to Indiana institutions on tuition and fees?
Purdue undergraduate resident rates are $45 below Indiana University. Ball State rates are $809 less than Purdue’s at $7,829 versus $8,638.