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Student Life Facts

See below for interesting facts related to student life at Purdue, arranged by month. To view information, click on the month desired.

The Purdue Philharmonic Orchestra recently performed a joint concert at the Palladium with Carmel High School.
Associate Dean of Students for Education & Advocacy Zenephia Evans was recently awarded with the 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Dreamer Award for embodying MLK's vision of service to others.
Purdue Convocations recently hosted TEDx: Terrarium, aimed at exploring intersections in technology, design, culture, and other aspects of today's world.
University Residences' Executive in Residence program hosted Rodrick Glass, VP of Creative Realities, and Danny Varghese, President of Formitize, this month. The program connects students with real world leaders.
Assistant Vice Provost for Student Life Todd Wetzel was recently named co-Chair of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals' APAP/NYC+ Conference.
Purdue RecWell provides students with over 35 different intramural sports options during the 2022-23 academic year.
Steps to Leaps will host a summit for faculty and staff on March 22nd with the focus of exploring how the five pillars support holistic well-being.
The Roger C. Stewart Leadership & Professional Development Department celebrated MLK Day of Service with projects based on this year's theme of food justice.
A tradition since 1933, Purdue Musical Organizations' Christmas Show was held recently at Elliott Hall of Music.
"Purdue Crew - 20 Years of Rowing: 1949-69" was recently released by Charles Bruce Blackwell, highlighting the first 20 years of this club sport.
Phi Gamma Delta's class of 1975 recently funded the construction of Friendship Grove near West Stadium Drive, a shaded location to promote socializing outdoors and well-being.
More than 70% of students who returned to University Residences cited hall community as an important aspect of their decision to return to campus.
81% of new students became involved in at least one campus activity or student organization in their first six weeks on campus.
Daniel Pierce currently mentors students as a Senior Faculty Fellow in McCutcheon Hall, the same residence hall he lived in as a freshman in 2000.
The Roger C. Stewart Center for Leadership & Professional Development Department offers a free non-credit course to help students grow in competencies identified by employers as essential to their future work.
Purdue Bands & Orchestras recently presented their Fall Super Jazz Jam at Loeb Playhouse.
Purdue University has the lowest predominant room and board rate for Big 10 institutions once again for the 2022-23 academic year.
Purdue Musical Organizations presents the PMO Spooktacular this month, a special Halloween concert at Loeb Playhouse on October 30th at 7 p.m.
Purdue Convocations welcomed Broadway back to Purdue this month with The Book of Mormon, the first of five performances scheduled this year.
University Residences is currently housing nearly 15,900 students, its largest ever on-campus population.
New student employees for Purdue Dining & Culinary recently participated in Jump Start, the seventh year the department has hosted the early orientation program that focuses on building leadership skills.
73% of Purdue students utilized RecWell during the 2021-22 academic year with a total of over 1.2 million individual visits.
Purdue's Panhellenic Association was recently recognized by the National Panhellenic Conference for their work to support the sorority experience during 2021-22.
September saw the kickoff of Purdue's annual Steps to Leaps Dialogues series, helping students engage around five important pillars.
For the Spring 2022 semester, Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life students once again outperformed the campus average GPA, 3.18 to 3.13.
Results from the EBI Benchmarking survey show that University Residences has consistently outperformed other institutions in many critical areas such as safety & security, dining services and student staff.
RecWell has a variety of financial-based workshops planned for the Fall semester, helping students learn about budgeting, building credit and managing debt. 
While Purdue has no music majors, over 1,100 students are involved in Purdue Bands & Orchestras.
Purdue University Student Health recently welcomed its new director, Dr. Brenda Masiga-Crowell, who comes to Purdue from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. 
97% of MyStrengths participants agreed that the tool helped further their personal and professional development.
Purdue Convocations recently announced its 2022-23 season, featuring dozens of events including concerts, dance performances, and Broadway theater.
A recent survey found that 86% of students involved in Purdue Musical Organizations feel it has helped further their learning.
Purdue Bands & Orchestras once again received the highest total number of gifts for Purdue Day of Giving, with 3,721 gifts totaling over $2.4 million.
Niche.com ranked Purdue's student life as 96th best out of over 1,600 universities for 2022.
The Purdue Parents & Families Club, a partnership between Athletics and Student Life, aims to help families build deeper connections to Purdue.
Over 56% of Purdue students are actively involved in one student organization while more than 28% are involved in multiple.
Alexander Kardashian won the 65th Purdue Grand Prix while a driver from Harrison Hall placed second and Cary Quad drivers finished third and fifth. 
Five Purdue students have been certified to train peers in QPR Suicide Prevention in a partnership between Purdue Student Government and the Office of the Dean of Students. 
In a recent survey, 92% of student organization members agreed that their involvement in organizations has furthered their learning.
 A recent survey revealed that the Purdue Student Health Center's services have a 93% satisfaction rate. 
Purdue Memorial Union was ranked as the 4th best student union in the country by College Rank and the 9th best by Best Value Schools.

Over the past five years, underrepresented minority (URM) students involved in Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life were more likely to remain at Purdue for their sophomore year than the Purdue URM average, 94.3% to 89.6%. 

Purdue's All-American Marching Band was recently ranked as the 8th best college band in the nation by Great Value Colleges and 9th by Fan Buzz. 

A new student organization, Steps to Leaps Students, was created to help students develop in the five pillars of impact, well-being, leadership, networks and grit.
The All Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life semester GPA for Fall 2021 was 3.16, higher than the all undergraduate GPA for the 16th consecutive semester.
In the recent NACUFS benchmarking survey, Purdue Dining & Culinary outperformed peer institutions on 22 out of 25 categories.
Juanita Richey was recently named the new Director of the Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education (CARE).
The Roger C. Stewart Leadership and Professional Development Department's Elect Her program is the only program in the country that trains college women to run for student government and future political office.

Purdue's Office of Civic Engagement recently commemorated the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service with community partner United Way of Greater Lafayette.

The Purdue Jazz Band will recognize Valentine's Day with a 1940s Big Band style "Evening of Romance" concert in Marriott Hall.

Purdue Musical Organizations provides over $350,000 in scholarships to 173 students across the West Lafayette campus.

Purdue RecWell is offering free Group X fitness courses during the Spring 2022 semester.

Purdue Dining & Culinary was ranked #19 in the nation by Best Value Schools and #48 by Niche.com.

Student Activities & Organizations' Martia Brawner King and University Residences' Susan Huffman recently received 2021 Special Boilermaker Awards for their contributions to the betterment of the educational experience.
From 2016-2021, Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life organizations performed on average more than 35,000 hours of community service each semester and raised on average over $400,000 per semester for philanthropies.
Students participating in Club Sports, competitive student sport organizations, consistently have GPAs and retention rates higher than the Purdue average.
This year, Purdue Musical Organizations will perform their famous Christmas Show for the 88th consecutive year. Audiences can watch virtually at their convenience beginning Dec. 17th.
A recent survey found that upperclassmen cite Dining and the ease of building community among the many reasons why they choose to return to University Residences.
The Roger C. Stewart Leadership and Professional Development department has partnered with several local organizations to collect gifts for those in need through the Season of Sharing event.
Three engineering students and members of Purdue Bands & Orchestras are gaining hands-on experience serving as construction ambassadors for Hagle Hall, the new Bands building.

A recent survey found that first year students living on-campus were more likely to feel part of the Purdue community and create valuable friendships.

78% of new students became involved in at least one campus activity or student organization in their first six weeks on campus.

Purdue's RecWell encourages well-being by providing cooking courses in their Demonstration Kitchen for only $10.

Purdue was recently recognized by the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education as the #4 university in the country in terms of student engagement.

Purdue University has the lowest predominant room and board rate for Big 10 institutions for the 2021-22 academic year.

The Roger C. Stewart Leadership and Professional Development Department was recently named to honor the alumnus for his decades of mentorship and support of student programs.

University Residences is currently housing over 15,250 students, representing Purdue's largest on-campus population ever.

RecWell is helping students who are taking a "giant leap off campus" with the Boiler Financial Track program.

New student employees for Purdue Dining & Culinary recently participated in Jump Start, the sixth year the department has hosted the early orientation program that focuses on building leadership skills.

Chris Hanes recently began his role as new Senior Director for Counseling and Psychological Services, joining Purdue after a role at Iowa State.

Purdue Convocations recently celebrated a return to in-person events with "Hand to Hand" by Squonk Opera.

Boiler Gold Rush welcomed the largest-ever Purdue freshman class with over 8,400 students participating in the program.

For the Spring 2021 semester, Greek and Cooperative Life students once again outperformed the campus average GPA, 3.31 to 3.26.

Results from the EBI Benchmarking survey show that University Residences has consistently outperformed other institutions in many critical areas such as students satisfaction, facilities, and security over the past ten years.

Exit surveys revealed that nearly four-fifths of former Purdue Dining & Culinary student employees would recommend that other students work for Purdue D&C.

Purdue Band & Orchestra's chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi received the national Chapter Leadership award for its service over the past two years.

For the 2020-21 academic year, Purdue offered over 1,000 student organizations.
Purdue RecWell debuted a Virtual Escape Room last year that student groups could participate in using Zoom.
Elliott Hall of Music was rated as the #5 campus theater in the nation for 2021 by Best College Reviews, matching its rank from the prior year.
Civic Engagement & Leadership Development's Mel Gruver recently received the Schleman Gold Medallion award for her contributions to the advancement of female students and women's issues.
Purdue University Student Health Center recently won the 2020-21 Bernard A. Kershner Primary Care Award for exhibiting quality of care, patient safety, and efficiency through data analysis.
Niche recently ranked Purdue as having the 92nd best student life out of nearly 1,600 universities in the nation.
Coordinator for Civic Engagement, Vanessa Pacheco, recently received the 2021 MaPSAC Excellence Award for her work on initiatives such as the ACE Campus Food Pantry.
Once again, Purdue Bands & Orchestras received more total gifts than any other university area for Purdue Day of Giving, with 5,376 gifts totaling over $1.6 million.
Harrison Hall, led by rookie driver Jacob Peddycord, won the 64th running of the Purdue Grand Prix. Three UR teams placed in the Top 10.
Purdue's strengths-based approach to developing students was recently highlighted in an article by Gallup.
RecWell recently concluded the Spring 2021 intramural season, successfully hosting seasons for soccer, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball despite the pandemic.
The Purdue Contemporary Dance Company recently presented its virtual Spring Works dance concert with original works created for film instead of stage.
Best College Reviews recently ranked the Purdue Memorial Student Union as the 16th best student union in the country.
Steps to Leaps has partnered with campus faculty and staff on the Everyday Applications Series to integrate Steps to Leaps pillars into programs and classrooms.
Purdue's All-American Marching Band was ranked as 6th best college band in the country by College Raptor and 16th best by Super Tailgate.
CAPS recently partnered with Purdue Student Government to provide a series of events supporting mental and emotional health as part of Mental Health Action Week.
The All Fraternity, Sorority, and Cooperative semester GPA for Fall 2020 was 3.30, highest in FSCL history and above the all undergraduate GPA for the 14th consecutive semester.
Over 1,400 first-year students were recently matched into over 150 interest-based affinity groups in an effort from Student Life to promote connection on campus.
In a recent benchmarking survey, University Residences received their highest ever rating in student satisfaction of the residential community environment.
Convocations will be hosting the virtual TEDxPurdueU on March 20 with the theme of "Dissonance."
Steps to Leaps organized a series of Lunch & Learn educational sessions in 2020 with over 1,200 participants.
43% of Co-Rec users noted that Recreation and Wellness had helped them improve their overall well-being.
For the 2019-20 academic year, Purdue Greek and Cooperative Organizations raised over $180,000 for charitable causes while members donated over 13,400 hours of their time.
The ACE Campus Food Pantry honored the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by coordinating a weeklong campus food drive.
The Stewart Center recently opened an Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room to help students engage in activities that promote campus mental health.
Purdue RecWell offers Nutrition Coaching to help students develop a diet to meet their fitness goals.
Purdue Bands & Orchestras will livestream a virtual Jazz Festival featuring masters classes from some of the top jazz educators in the nation.
Purdue's Dining & Culinary was ranked #19 in the nation by Best Value Schools and #40 by Niche.com.
Ground was recently broken on Hagle Hall, which will serve as the new home of Purdue Bands & Orchestras and be located along the Third Street Student Success Corridor.
Purdue Musical Organizations has kept their annual holiday tradition going with a free virtual production of "A Different Kind of Christmas," airing online Dec. 19 through Jan. 1.
Purdue RecWell has partnered with Purdue Federal Credit Union to create Boiler Financial Track, providing financial presentations, counseling and budgeting help to students.
The percentage of students deciding to return to University Residences has increased from 39.0% for 2007 to 48.5% for 2020.
Steps to Leaps, a campus-wide initiative geared toward bolstering student success based on the pillars of well-being, leadership, impact-making, network building, and grit, recently celebrated its one year anniversary with an online symposium.
In a recent survey about the campus experience, 95% of students said they would recommend Purdue to others.
Over two-thirds of first-year students had already become involved in co-curricular activities on the Purdue campus within the first two months of the fall semester.
The Office of Civic Engagement and Leadership Development helped arrange for Mackey Arena to serve as an Election Day voting site for Purdue students.
Purdue University has the lowest predominant room and board rate for Big 10 institutions for the 2020-21 academic year, the result of eight consecutive years without a rate increase for students.
Purdue Bands & Orchestras provided more donations (2,413 for a total of over $675,000) than any other group or college at the annual Purdue Day of Giving.
A recent survey found that 94% of beginning first-year students would recommend for friends to attend Purdue.
Purdue's Office of Student Life recently rolled out "ReEntry Purdue Atmosphere," a program designed to improve campus social engagement and events while adhering to social distancing strategies.
University Residences recently opened two new residence halls, Meredith Hall South and Griffin Hall North, which house approximately 1,300 students.
This was the fifth year of Purdue Dining & Culinary's Jump Start program, an early orientation program that pairs student employee training with relationship building and leadership training.
Purdue Student Government recently held a virtual leadershipsummit attended by more than 280 student leaders.
Purdue Bands & Orchestras will live stream select performances throughout the Fall semester in an effort to bring the spirit of Purdue to the university community, alumni, and friends.
Purdue's Learning Community program will expand to 96 LC's this Fall, serving over 3,100 students.
For the thirteenth consecutive semester, the GPAs of Greek and Cooperative Life students exceeded the campus average, 3.55 to 3.30, for the Spring 2020 semester.
For the 2019-20 academic year, Purdue offered over 1,000 student organizations.
Purdue's LGBTQ Center received a five star rating (the highest possible) from the Campus Pride Index.
  1. Elliott Hall of Music was rated as the #5 campus theater in the nation by Best College Reviews.
  2. With Purdue providing students the option of attending all-online courses in the Fall, Student Life departments are providing many virtual resources including telehealth and virtual activities.    
  3. The Office of the Vice Provost of Student Life recently partnered with Cornerstone Liberal Arts to create a "My Quarantine Story" competition, prompting students to reflect on the unique historical moment.
  4. Purdue Musical Organizations' incorporation of technology through the iSing initiative has enhanced opportunities for rehearsal, feedback, and composition for student participants. 
  1. In a recent survey, 88% of students expressed satisfaction with the atmosphere created by the Purdue Memorial Union.
  2. Purdue Dining & Culinary's supplemental dining operations including Pete's Za and 1bowl outperformed benchmarks at other institutions on the recent NACUFS survey.  
  3. Purdue was recently selected from over 1,000 universities as the recipient of the Don Clifton Strengths for Students Award for its use of "myStrengths" to enhance student leadership.  
  4. RecWell has been conducting virtual Group X classes to help students stay connected to their health and wellness while away from campus. 
  1. Purdue University Student Health and the Department of Health & Kinesiology partnered to create a clinical site for students in the athletic training program to practice physical therapy.
  2. The 2019 NACUFS Benchmarking survey saw Purdue Dining & Culinary meeting students' expectations more frequently than peers, perhaps most notably in terms of value.
  3. Research by Student Life's Dr. Amanda Mayes and others on the effect of live theater on business ethics was recently published in the Humanistic Management Journal.
  4. University Residences' Executive-in-Residence program recently celebrated its fifth anniversary with a panel of retuning executives spanning over 430 years of professional experience.
  1. Online publication, Best College Reviews, ranked the Purdue Memorial Union 16th Best Student Union in the Country.
  2. Purdue Bands & Orchestras has unveiled "Purdue Quarantunes" on Instagram in an effort to help keep students connected through the unifying power of music.
  3. CAPS is providing telehealth services including screenings, therapy, and other forms of care to better serve students during social distancing measures.
  4. Purdue Recreation & Wellness recently launched e-sports intramurals in a variety of games including NBA2K, Rocket League, and FIFA20.
  1. The average GPAs for students in Purdue Greek and Cooperative Organizations are consistently higher than those for the general Purdue population.
  2. Student Life recently held its Human Library event, where individuals have conversations with "living books" based on their life experiences.
  3. 93% of Purdue Musical Organizations students noted that their PMO experience helped them improve their leadership skills.
  4. Student Life Marketing was recently recognized at the annual Indianapolis ADDY Awards including a graphic designer's gold recognition for the RecWell Legacy Wall.
  1. For the 2018-19 academic year, Purdue Greek and Cooperative Organizations raised over $820,000 for charitable causes.
  2. The Third Annual UR Men's Leadership Series was recently completed with four speakers including CEO of Parrish McDonald's Restaurants, Roland Parrish.
  3. Over 3,900 people utilized Purdue Dining & Culinary's automated delivery service during the Fall 2019 semester.
  4. Purdue Counseling & Psychological Services recently transitioned to a new care model in order to better meet demand for services.
  1. 84% of students surveyed rated their experience at Purdue University Student Health Service at "high quality."
  2. Purdue Recreation & Wellness recently unveiled "RecWell," an app that allows students to view schedules and reserve spots in group fitness classes.
  3. Nearly 20% of undergraduate students are members of one of Purdue's 90+ Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative organizations.
  4. Purdue Dining & Culinary was ranked #19 in the nation by Best Value Schools and #41 by Niche.com.
  1. The Purdue Marching Band was ranked as the #4 college marching band in the country in 2019 by the website ThoughtCo and #6 by College Raptor.
  2. Last year, Purdue Musical Organizations students performed 91 times in 30 cities, 5 states and 3 countries.
  3. Jay Gephart, Director of Purdue University Bands & Orchestras, recently received the prestigious Sagamore of the Wabash award for contributions to Hoosier heritage.
  4. The percentage of students deciding to return to University Residences has increased from 39.0% in 2007 to 50.1% in 2019.
  1. University Residences houses a record number of students — nearly 14,600 — for the fall 2019 semester, providing each student access to a wide variety of residential academic initiatives.
  2. Student Life recently held a "History of Horror" walking tour that highlighted events from Purdue’s rich history as a benefit for the United Way.
  3. Purdue Dining & Culinary recently partnered with Starship Technologies to bring automated food delivery robots to the Purdue campus, making Purdue the largest campus in the world with that technology.
  4. Purdue Musical Organizations recently welcomed high school students from across the state to provide instruction on singing and performing.
  1. Purdue recently launched Steps to Leaps, a campus-wide initiative geared toward bolstering student success based on the pillars of well-being, leadership, impact-making, network building and grit.
  2. The Jumpstart program helped over 100 student employees in Purdue Dining & Culinary gain leadership training while giving them the opportunity to work to receive reimbursement for their Boiler Gold Rush fee.
  3. Purdue has the lowest predominant room and board rate for Big Ten institutions for the 2019-20 academic year, the result of seven consecutive years without a rate increase for students.
  4. University Residences' Executive-in-Residence program brings leaders from business, higher education, aerospace and entrepreneurship to campus, allowing students to learn from them in small-group settings.