College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Purdue University-Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN · Public · Bachelor-granting · 44,503 undergrads · 50% admitted

Do students finish?

83% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?

$24,591/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$98,364 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$72,424 median, 10 yrs after entry

25th pct $47,140 median $72,424 75th pct $103,038

84% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

75 Bachelor's programs · $20,032 to $81,749 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt

Computer Science.Bachelor's $81,749 $19,136

Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $76,843 $22,875

Chemical Engineering.Bachelor's $75,967 $21,500

Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $73,563 $19,500

Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $73,421 $17,750

Industrial Engineering.Bachelor's $70,780 $18,357

Materials Engineering.Bachelor's $69,257 $22,111

Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.Bachelor's $69,207 $18,578

Statistics.Bachelor's $68,741 $19,250

Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $67,788 $16,750

Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $67,558 $19,500

Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $66,084 $19,500

Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $65,987 $23,239

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $64,679 $19,500

Nuclear Engineering.Bachelor's $63,891 $20,250

Agricultural Engineering.Bachelor's $63,560 $20,000

Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering.Bachelor's $62,853 $16,316

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering.Bachelor's $62,537 $21,500

Biomedical/Medical Engineering.Bachelor's $62,226 $19,500

Engineering, Other.Bachelor's $61,803 $19,787

Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $61,758 $19,813

Food Science and Technology.Bachelor's $61,329 —

Marketing.Bachelor's $58,334 $18,274

Engineering-Related Fields.Bachelor's $57,870 $16,153

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $57,612 $19,500

General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations.Bachelor's $56,811 $19,451

Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $56,777 $19,500

Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $53,751 $21,500

Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $52,702 $19,500

Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General.Bachelor's $51,860 —

Agricultural Mechanization.Bachelor's $51,820 $19,727

Economics.Bachelor's $51,724 $23,099

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.Bachelor's $49,996 —

Agricultural Business and Management.Bachelor's $49,121 $15,753

Agricultural Production Operations.Bachelor's $48,121 $13,250

Air Transportation.Bachelor's $48,103 $19,500

Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor's $44,361 $17,713

Mathematics.Bachelor's $43,681 $18,820

Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Business Services.Bachelor's $42,920 $19,500

Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General.Bachelor's $42,612 —

Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $42,205 $19,500

Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $41,716 $19,500

Hospitality Administration/Management.Bachelor's $41,273 $18,916

Chemistry.Bachelor's $40,760 $19,500

Genetics.Bachelor's $39,698 $15,000

Special Education and Teaching.Bachelor's $39,276 $26,000

Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $39,172 $17,500

Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services.Bachelor's $38,807 $20,254

Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $38,513 $19,500

Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $37,574 $17,375

Forestry.Bachelor's $35,961 —

Sociology.Bachelor's $35,811 $19,500

Computer Software and Media Applications.Bachelor's $35,435 $20,101

Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration.Bachelor's $35,132 $17,500

Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $34,214 $19,500

Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $33,505 $15,000

Film/Video and Photographic Arts.Bachelor's $32,369 $17,369

Animal Sciences.Bachelor's $32,152 $19,500

Plant Sciences.Bachelor's $32,102 —

Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other.Bachelor's $31,764 $21,970

Biology, General.Bachelor's $31,579 $19,500

Public Health.Bachelor's $29,968 $21,000

Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.Bachelor's $29,852 $18,875

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $29,025 $14,000

Research and Experimental Psychology.Bachelor's $28,965 $18,500

Psychology, General.Bachelor's $27,910 —

English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $27,686 $18,839

Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $26,959 $20,500

Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $25,002 —

History.Bachelor's $24,015 $20,490

Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology.Bachelor's $22,695 —

Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $22,567 $19,500

Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Management.Bachelor's $21,754 $19,370

Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $20,657 —

Anthropology.Bachelor's $20,032 $17,472

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt

$15,000

≈ 21% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (94 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website