New university residence to the south of Hillenbrand Hall to further increase availability of on-campus housing

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (Aug. 4) gave approval to plan, finance, construct and award construction contracts for a new residence hall immediately south of Hillenbrand Residence Hall on the West Lafayette campus.

The new residence hall will be an eight-story, 252,525-square-foot facility that includes 896 pod-style beds. At the same time, the existing dining area in Hillenbrand Residence Hall will be renovated and expanded from approximately 500 to 800 seats to accommodate the additional residents.

The project will help address an existing waitlist and an increased demand for on-campus housing. Additionally, it provides more space for the students in Purdue’s largest living learning community, The Data Mine, to collaborate with each other and with their mentors in the corporate partners program.

Students in The Data Mine emphasize the importance of living and working in the learning community environment. The ability for students to learn data science competencies (on-site, in the residence hall where many of the students live) and to apply these skills in corporate and research settings has been instrumental to the success of The Data Mine.

One of the key goals of Purdue’s transformative education initiative is increasing student success and value by adding housing capacity to ensure there are on-campus living opportunities for undergraduate students.

“The addition of this new residence hall to the West Lafayette campus allows the university to increase the number of on-campus beds and provides more opportunities for the integrated student life experience that we know enhances student success,” said Jay Wasson, Purdue vice president for physical facilities and chief public safety officer.

Earlier this year, Purdue President Mung Chiang directed the creation of the Action Council on Student Housing and Wellbeing under the leadership of Provost Patrick Wolfe and Chief Financial Officer Chris Ruhl. The residence hall project is the second student housing project approved this year to fulfill a primary objective of the action council, and the scope and location of the project are in alignment with the Giant Leaps Housing and Dining Master Plan update that was completed in February. 

Since 2013 Purdue enrollment has increased 31%, and the completion of the residence Hall south of Hillenbrand and Third Street and McCormick Road housing projects will contribute to a 35% increase in the number of on-campus beds.

Work is scheduled to start in March 2024 and be completed in June 2026. The estimated total project cost is $149 million, to be funded by non-fee replaced debt.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top 4 in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, with 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 12 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap, including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes, at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Writer: Tom Schott

Sources: Jay Wasson

Jenna Rickus