Admissions & selectivity
Purdue University-Main Campus Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Purdue?
Purdue’s reported acceptance rate is 49.9%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 49.9%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Purdue University-Main Campus Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Purdue University-Main Campus admitted 49.9% of applicants in the most recent cycle, well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 87,220 applicants, 37,881 admitted, and 9,656 enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Purdue students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores had a median of 1360. The middle half of those submitters scored between 1220 and 1470.
84% of enrolled students submitted SAT scores. For the 23% who submitted ACT scores, the median was 32.
The middle half ranged from 28 to 34. These ranges describe enrolled students who submitted scores, not the full entering class or a minimum for admission.
Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 52% placed in the highest tenth of their high school class and 80% in the highest quarter. Applicants can compare their own scores and class standing against these figures as context for recent enrolled students, not as thresholds.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Purdue. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
84% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1220
- Median
- 1360
- 75th percentile
- 1470
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
23% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 28
- Median
- 32
- 75th percentile
- 34
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Purdue University-Main Campus Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Purdue?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 13.0%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 22.1%
- First-year retention
- 92.7%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Purdue University-Main Campus serves 44,503 undergraduates, and the student body brings together people from different starting points. An estimated 22.1% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, while 13.0% of all undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
That mix suggests many students are building on credits earned elsewhere rather than arriving straight from high school. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported counts for transfer admission: 4,422 applicants, 1,882 admitted, and 1,058 enrolled.
Transfer applicants and Pell-eligible students should use the cost calculator to see how their prior credits and family income shape the estimated net price.
Full-time bachelor's-seeking students who start at Purdue University-Main Campus return at a rate of 92.7% for a second year. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 83.1%.
Both figures exceed the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0% for comparable institutions. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 92% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.
Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 74.3%, which is 8.8 percentage points below the overall rate. Enrolled students can expect strong persistence and completion, though the gap for Pell recipients is worth weighing.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.