Alumni and Giving

Since its inception in 1929, the Graduate School has awarded more than 121,000 graduate degrees, and each year more than 750 doctoral and 2,250 master’s degree recipients join the global community of Purdue graduate alumni. Boilermakers who leave Purdue with graduate degrees engage in world-changing research and deliver innovation. They create an environment of inclusion and a culture of hard work that helps build balance and growth. And they develop practical solutions to the toughest challenges we face today.

Giving Opportunities

Purdue graduate alumni also provide mentorship and philanthropic giving to support current students as they navigate the path from graduate student to alumnus. With the partnership of alumni and friends, the Graduate School supports the Purdue Graduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Center, provides learning opportunities, and assists graduate students facing a variety challenges and opportunities. Each contribution, regardless of the size, plays a significant role in the success of our graduate students and creates positive change for graduate education at Purdue.

The Graduate School wants your gift to be a rewarding investment for you. Use the list below to help make an informed decision about the priority needs of our school: 

• Professional Development: The Graduate School offers 350 professional development workshops for graduate students each year. Topics run the gamut from professional skills, such as how to write a grant proposal, to life skills, such as how to buy a house, to personal development, such as how to maintain strong mental health.
• Childcare Grants: The Graduate School awards grants to graduate student parents to assist with childcare costs at licensed daycares.
• Emergency Funds: When graduate students face financial crises, the Graduate School’s emergency fund can provide a needed lifeline. During the pandemic, for example, the Graduate School supported 192 graduate students who were faced with unexpected pandemic-related financial hardships with two rounds of $1,000 COVID-19 Emergency Scholarships. We partnered with the colleges across campus as well as the Office of the Provost, which enabled us to further bolster our commitment to graduate students in financial need.
• Office of Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs: The gifts made to this fund support over 15+ interdisciplinary graduate programs that are either administered or affiliated with the office.  The support could be in the form of travel to a research or professional conference, scholarship and awards, the Annual Spring Reception, etc.
• Area of Greatest Need in the Graduate School: Gifts to this fund support evolving opportunities and the highest priority needs for graduate students. Our growing Summer Research Opportunities and Graduate Bridge Programs, for example, bring graduate-school bound underrepresented minority students to Purdue to participate in summer research and mentoring opportunities, as well as provide experiences that expose them to university resources they need to thrive in graduate school. By making a gift to this category, you expand the impact of these and other programs geared toward graduate student success.

MAKE A GIFT TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL TODAY