Trustees sign off on 2024 budget, 11th and 12th years of frozen tuition for Purdue West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – With its ongoing commitment to the vision of higher education at the highest proven value, faculty and staff compensation increases, and strategic investments, Purdue University's Board of Trustees on Friday (June 9) adopted the university’s operating budget for the 2024 fiscal year with revenues modestly exceeding expenditures.

Tuition will remain frozen at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus for the 11th and 12th consecutive years, keeping base undergraduate tuition and fees for Indiana residents under $10,000 per year. The total cost of attending Purdue continues to be less today than in 2012, with tuition held flat and lower room and board rates. By 2024-25, 10 graduating classes will have never experienced a tuition increase during their time at Purdue.

Meanwhile, more students than ever are seeking a Purdue degree: More than 72,600 applied for undergraduate admission for fall 2023, and more employers than ever are seeking out Purdue graduates. In fall 2022, total enrollment reached a record 50,884 and marked the university’s eighth straight record high.

Professional flight program fees are updated every biennium to offset increased costs associated with aviation operations. Fees, which will impact less than 1% of undergraduate students, will increase 3% on average in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Tuition and fees at Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will increase 3% each year of the biennium, below the 3.5% maximum rate recommended by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The increases will be used to fund the operating budget, including faculty and staff salaries and benefits, scholarships, supplies, services, and repair and rehabilitation. In addition, a new differential for graduate education programs at Purdue Fort Wayne of $74 per credit hour will be phased in at 50% in 2023-24 and 100% in 2024-25, which will be used to support clinical instruction needs and curricular costs in those programs resulting from updated accreditation requirements. A new instructional material fee to provide course materials to Purdue Northwest students at a more cost-effective rate will provide cost savings for textbooks and courseware. This optional charge is a flat fee per semester: $299 for fall and spring semesters and $175 for summer semester.

For the second straight year, faculty and staff merit compensation  at Purdue West Lafayette will be set at 4%, plus a 1% one-time recognition, reward and retention pool. The back-to-back 4% recurring increases are a first for Purdue this century, reflecting continuity through the presidential transition. Purdue also will make major new investments in graduate student stipends for the second straight year, elevating the two-year combined investment to nearly $20 million. Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne will have 4% and 2.8% faculty and staff merit increases, respectively.

Also included in the West Lafayette expenditures are strategic investments targeted to the following key areas: 

• Purdue’s Next Moves and Purdue Online Education 2.0
• Research Excellence
• Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business
• Purdue Computes
• Enrollment growth support

Trustees endorsed the following total operating expenditures for fiscal year 2024:

• At the West Lafayette campus: $2.537 billion.
• At Purdue Northwest: $156 million.
• At Purdue Fort Wayne: $149 million.

Systemwide revenues are budgeted at $2.910 billion – a 3% increase compared with fiscal year 2023, driven by West Lafayette undergraduate enrollment increases; increased state appropriation; and growth in auxiliary income, specifically athletics revenue and additional student housing capacity. Revenues are expected to exceed expenditures by $68 million for an operating surplus of 2.3%.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last five years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.

Writer: Tom Schott

Media contact: Tim Doty, doty2@purdue.edu

Sources: Chris Ruhl

Eva Nodine