May 2000 ABOUT PURDUE >From its stately red-brick campus on the West Lafayette bluffs above the Wabash River and at regional campuses and educational sites across Indiana, Purdue University touches the Greater Lafayette community, the state, the nation and the world with a vast spectrum of instruction, outreach and service. As Indiana's only land-grant university, Purdue is an important partner with the state in myriad programs and services. As an acclaimed state-assisted public research institution, Purdue has a national and global reputation for excellent and affordable education. Building on its traditional strengths in engineering and agriculture since its founding in 1869, the West Lafayette campus today offers nearly 6,700 courses in more than 200 specializations through the schools of agriculture, consumer and family sciences, education, engineering, health sciences, liberal arts, management, nursing, pharmacy and pharmacal sciences, science, technology, and veterinary medicine. Programs of graduate study and research leading to advanced degrees are organized through the Graduate School. Purdue is the 10th-largest four-year university in the country, based on the 37,762 students enrolled in fall 1999 on its West Lafayette campus. Purdue also offers degrees at four regional campuses and 11 School of Technology sites statewide, bringing its systemwide enrollment to 66,455. ENROLLMENT FALL 1999 at Purdue campuses: West Lafayette 37,762 Calumet 9,351 Fort Wayne, Indiana students 5,990 Fort Wayne, Purdue students 4,565 North Central 3,355 -Indianapolis 3,723 Technology Statewide 1,691 W Lafayette Extension 18 TOTAL students 66,455 - Purdue students only COSTS: (2000-2001) Undergraduate expenses for fall and spring semesters at West Lafayette Fees (basic) in-state $ 3,772 Tuition and fees (basic) out-of-state $12,804 Room & board (15 meals) $ 5,042 FACULTY AND STAFF When Purdue opened its doors in 1874, five years after its founding, the original faculty of six greeted 39 students. Today, almost 2,300 faculty members contribute to Purdue's excellence in teaching and research throughout the Purdue system. With 15,100 faculty and staff, Purdue also is one of the state's largest employers. BUDGET Operating budget (1999-2000) $1.06 billion Endowment $1.3 billion HISTORY Purdue was created amid the promise of a bold new vision for American public higher education. On July 2, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, by which the federal government offered to turn over public lands to any state that would use the proceeds from their sale to maintain a college to teach agriculture and the ''mechanic arts.'' Three years later, the Indiana General Assembly voted to participate in this plan and took steps to establish such an institution under the Morrill Act's innovative ''land-grant'' proposal. Four years of wrangling then ensued about just where Indiana's new ''agricultural college'' would be located. On May 6, 1869, the General Assembly decided to locate the institution just west over the Wabash River from the booming river town of Lafayette and accepted $150,000 from Lafayette businessman and philanthropist John Purdue, $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 100 acres of land from local residents. In appreciation of his gift, the legislators named the university after its founding benefactor. It would take five years for a modest cluster of campus buildings to rise, plans of study to be developed and faculty to be hired before classes began at the fledgling institution on Sept. 16, 1874. TODAY The Purdue system today is a vital educational, research and outreach enterprise. Nearly 38,000 students from all 50 states and some 130 countries study at the West Lafayette campus, and some 28,000 are enrolled at other campuses. Purdue attracts more international students than any other public research university in America. Highly regarded in national surveys, Purdue is ranked among the top 20 public universities in the nation for excellence, according to U.S. News and World Report. Purdue touches lives in all 92 Indiana counties through its Cooperative Extension Service offices, eight agricultural research centers that cover the state, and through thousands of educational, cultural and athletic events on Purdue campus calendars each year. The sheer size of Purdue's operations also makes the university an economic dynamo in the state with an estimated annual impact on Indiana's economic well-being topping $2 billion. Purdue's more than 300,000 living alumni have made their marks in a vast range of fields - the first and last men on the moon are alumni; more Forbes 800 CEOs graduated from Purdue than from any other public university; and alumni of note have key roles in business, academia, education, politics, science, industry, media and the arts. -- Jeanne Norberg, director Purdue University News Service 1132 Engineering Admin. Bldg. West Lafayette, IN 47907-1132 Phone: 765-494-2096 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
