WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University officials on Tuesday (Sept. 8) announced a program to keep the institution one of the best values in the country.

Purdue plans to rebate $250 of the $500 student success fee to Indiana undergraduate students for the 2010-2011 academic year using federal stimulus funds. This is in addition to the previously announced (July 13) rebate of $500 for Hoosier undergraduates Purdue had already implemented for 09-10.

Purdue President France A. Córdova announced plans to rebate $250 of the $500 student success fee to Indiana undergraduate students for the 2010-2011 academic year using federal stimulus funds. This is in addition to the previously announced (July 13) rebate of $500 for Hoosier undergraduates Purdue had already implemented for the 2009-2010 school year. Also, in an effort to keep Purdue affordable, Córdova announced that all students qualifying for both federal and state financial aid will have their financial aid from Purdue boosted to offset the increase in tuition and fees for both the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 academic years.

Purdue will spend $6 million to fund both years of the rebate and the increase in financial aid to students.

“This is one more step we are able to take to ensure that a Purdue degree remains accessible and affordable,” Córdova said. “While the recent rankings placed Purdue as one of the top institutions in the country, our tuition and fees currently rank eighth among our public Big Ten peers. Purdue continues to be an exceptional value for Indiana and the nation.”

University officials considered a variety of plans to help offset tuition costs, listening carefully to faculty who wanted to make sure that university resources remained dedicated to the overall mission of access and student success.

State Budget Committee chairman Sen. Luke Kenley said the announcement was a benefit for Hoosier families, especially in light of Purdue’s prior efforts.

“We’re glad to see that Purdue is working on keeping college tuition affordable for Indiana families,” Kenley said. “Adding this effort to what they’ve already done will help more Indiana students through these rough economic times.”

Measures Purdue already has undertaken included using federal stimulus funds to rebate the $500 student success fee for new-to-campus resident undergraduates; aggressively raising money for new scholarships like the Marquis, the only university-provided scholarship in Indiana designed specifically to help good students from middle-class families; and freezing salaries and cutting $9.8 million from the university’s annual budget.

The student success fee of $500 only applies to students who were new to campus starting after spring semester 2009 since the money would be used to create programs to help develop courses and support programs to improve learning and student achievement. Córdova said using stimulus funds to offset the rebates means the university would be able to fund the student success programs over the next two years.

Two recent examples include Ideas to Innovations, a new way to teach freshman engineering students that already has increased attendance and student performance, and Signals, a $600,000 computer program that helps students monitor their class work and warns them if they need to attend help sessions or step up their homework.

Purdue has raised more than $100 million towards Córdova’s $304 million Access and Success campaign, now in its second year. Total financial aid and student support at Purdue for 2009-10 is estimated at $510 million – the most ever – and three out of four Purdue students receive some type of financial assistance.

Purdue is consistently labeled a great value for education. The university was recently ranked 22nd nationally among public research universities – a jump of four places from last year’s ranking – yet its tuition remains among the lowest of the top universities. In January 2009, Purdue was ranked ninth in SmartMoney magazine’s college “payback” survey, which quantified the long-term value of a college education.

“We are committed to maintaining Purdue’s great value for our students, while focusing on academic quality and institutional excellence,” said Keith Krach, chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University ranked 22nd among the nation’s public universities and 61st among all universities, according to U.S. News & World Report magazine rankings released Thursday (Aug. 20).

Purdue University ranked 22nd (up from 26th in 2008) among the nation's public universities and 61st (up from 66th in 2008) among all universities.

The ranking is a move up from Purdue’s ranking of 26th last year. Purdue ranked 61st among all universities, tied with Clemson University, Fordham University, Texas A&M University and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. This also is an improvement for Purdue, which ranked 66th last year.

“These rankings reflect our continued commitment to the student experience. It has been a year since we adopted our New Synergies strategic plan, and these rankings show that it is working,” President France A. Córdova said. “We are focusing our efforts on student success, and it is paying off. Students from across the nation and around the world know that when they come to Purdue, they will receive a high quality education due to the outstanding work of our faculty and staff.”

Factors that helped Purdue move up in the rankings are higher graduation rates and more classes with fewer students, Córdova said. She also noted that the alumni giving rate increased from 16 percent to 18 percent.

In the “Programs to Look For” category, Purdue is among 14 public and private universities cited for the quality of its internship programs, 24 cited for their first-year experience, and 22 cited for writing in the disciplines.

“It’s exciting and rewarding to see that the plans we have put in place to improve the academic experience of our students is being recognized,” said Randy Woodson, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

“The improved rankings, while gratifying, are not the goal. The goal is to make a difference for students, and the rankings are just a reflection of the fact that we are making strides on that front.”

Purdue’s College of Engineering tied for ninth nationally among doctoral-granting universities, sharing the spot with Cornell University and University of Texas-Austin. The college also ranked ninth last year.

The Krannert School of Management shared the 21st position with Georgetown University, Pennsylvania State University and University of Washington among doctoral-granting universities. Krannert has consistently been included in the top 25, ranking 17th last year and 21st in 2007.

Specialty programs in both management and engineering also ranked among the top five in several categories.

Among engineering specialties, four Purdue schools placed in the top five nationally: biological/agricultural, No. 2; industrial/manufacturing, No. 3; aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical, No. 4; and civil, tied at No. 5 with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Purdue’s Krannert School had two top five specialty rankings: No. 4 in productions/operations management, and No. 4 in quantitative analysis and methods, tied with University of California-Berkeley.

The data for determining the nation’s best institutions of higher education come from questionnaires U.S. News sends to all accredited four-year colleges and universities. The magazine then determines its rankings based on measures that fall into seven broad categories: assessment by administrators at peer institutions; retention of students; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; alumni giving; and “graduation rate performance,” the difference between the proportion of students expected to graduate and the proportion who actually do.

The magazine bases its specialty rankings on a spring 2009 survey of deans and department heads at peer institutions. The schools receiving the most votes are listed.

Information on the rankings can be found at the U.S.News & World Report Web site at http://www.usnews.com/. The magazine’s college guidebook, “America’s Best Colleges,” contains a directory of the more than 1,400 institutions.

More on Purdue’s past U.S. News and other rankings is available online at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/ranking.html.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University is ranked in the Princeton Review’s list of 100 “best value” colleges for 2009, released Thursday (Jan. 8).

The education services and test-prep company says the rankings, which appeared in USA Today, are an attempt to highlight “schools that provide high-quality academics at a reasonable price – either by keeping sticker prices in line, or by offsetting high costs with great financial packages.”

The survey is based on an analysis using the most recently reported data from each institution for its 2008-09 academic year. The top 10 public and private “best values” are ranked; the rest are listed alphabetically.

Purdue University has been named one of Princeton Review's top 100 best value colleges.

It is the second time in less than a month that Purdue has been recognized for being a good value. In December, SmartMoney magazine ranked Purdue ninth nationally in its college “payback” survey, which quantified the long-term value of a college degree.

“This latest survey is more evidence that Purdue is a terrific value,” said Purdue Provost Randy Woodson. “Our students can obtain a quality education at a reasonable price. That’s why we are attracting top students.”

Schools on the “best value” list were selected based on surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private colleges and universities. Selection criteria included more than 30 factors in academics, costs and financial aid.

Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s vice president for publishing, told USA Today that value is about more than just cost. Schools that only had lower prices were not included in the survey because that doesn’t necessarily mean value.

Tuition at Purdue is $7,750 for in-state students and $23,224 for out-of-state students. The average critical reading SAT score is 554 for current Purdue freshmen. The average SAT math score is 598 and average writing SAT score is 545.

The Princeton Review said, in part, of Purdue: “Looking for a relatively inexpensive state school with a reputation rivaling the world’s best institutions of higher learning? Want to attend the same school as 22 astronauts including Neil Armstrong? Does the school you’re looking for have big-time athletics and a ton of school spirit? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then Purdue University is for you.

“Founded in 1869 in West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue quickly became known as one of the country’s premier engineering schools. Now boasting an undergraduate population of 31,186, Purdue has maintained a 14:1 ratio of students to faculty. The school’s admission process has also remained strong, with incoming students averaging a 3.5 high school GPA.”

Indiana University is the only other university within the state included the “best value” survey. The University of Michigan joins Purdue and IU as the only Big Ten universities ranked.