2025 College Rankings

Purdue University is the largest school in Indiana and home to some of the most politically tolerant students in the country. Like many of their peers at other schools, however, these students must frequently navigate an administration that is not completely friendly to their interests. Activists do not entirely dominate Purdue’s administration. We rank the school fourth for its freedom from activism largely because, unlike that of so many other schools, Purdue’s administration has not signed on to a host of commitments extraneous to its educational mission. Better still, it has signed on to institutional neutrality and the Chicago Principles, intended to safeguard free inquiry on campus.

When these commitments are put to the test, results are mixed. In 2024, radical anti-Semitic activists pitched tents on campus, and the administration was slow to respond. It allowed the encampment to remain for 11 days before clearing it out and subjecting those who had violated campus policy to disciplinary action. Purdue’s administration rejected the activists’ demands for the school to participate in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. On the whole, the administration’s commitment to free speech is mixed. Though the school has embraced the Chicago Principles, it employs a bias-response system, which polices the airing of opinions that some consider offensive. Students are generally unsure whether the administration would defend a campus speaker in the case of controversy. That said, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives Purdue a “green” speech code rating, meaning that its policies do not explicitly limit the freedom of speech.

Students are an interesting mix: regardless of their viewpoint, most Purdue students are willing to hear one another out. In fact, Purdue students are the second-most politically tolerant of any school that we studied. They are equally tolerant of controversial campus speakers, both from the left and the right. According to data collected by FIRE, 71 percent believe that it is “rarely” or “never” acceptable to shout down a speaker, 85 percent say the same of blocking a campus speech, and 91 percent do not condone the use of violence in these situations. Since 2019, there have been only two attempts at de-platforming a campus speaker—one successful, one not. This is notable, considering that the undergraduate population is nearly 40,000-strong.

Students are generally balanced in their ideological commitments. For every 1.4 liberals, there is one conservative student. The same is true for student political organizations, which are relatively balanced in their ideological makeup. Students rarely feel the need to censor themselves, whether in conversations with other students or professors. Students are comfortable expressing themselves freely in class, in written assignments, with professors, and during informal discussions and on social media.

Purdue’s curriculum is fairly solid. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school a B in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Purdue mandates that its students take courses in history and government to graduate but also imposes the same requirement regarding DEI-focused courses, an unfortunate lapse.

Purdue serves its graduates well economically. It takes about one year for most to pay back the cost of their education, one of the fastest rates of any school that we studied. The Princeton Review ranks its alumni network among the top 20 nationwide for public schools. Median career earnings ten years after initial enrollment overperform predictions, based on SAT scores and Pell Grant recipient data, by nearly $6,500, making Purdue a good investment for incoming students.