Since COVID-19, there has been no defined decline or rise in college admissions. Some universities have suffered the impacts of COVID and are still working to improve the student body population. Other schools, such as Purdue University, have continued to rise, despite lacking resources to assist students. In a graph released by the Purdue Exponent, the student-run newspaper on campus, from Fall 2020 to Fall 2024, student population increased by ~26.5%. The University of Maine, for example, has stayed relatively steady in enrollment numbers, within a 500 student change between 2019 to 2024. Other data reports from universities including the University of Houston show similar standstill numbers of enrollment for the past few years.
As a former Purdue student, I witnessed firsthand the lack of care that Purdue has for its over-admittance. To put it lightly, there was little care for the upperclassmen on campus and an intense focus on the future with the underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores). One word that can strongly describe Purdue is innovation. Everywhere you walk on campus, you see faces of those that represent Purdue through this innovation. There’s an emphasis on the future, the younger generation, which could be a reason for the growing undergraduate population, which increased by 5,000 from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024.
Surge of Enrollment
Purdue recently hit the largest student body in history, spanning back 155 years to 1869. Every single year for the last five years, an article titled “Purdue hits new record enrollment” is released, as the previous record from the year before was rendered unimpressive. While most college campuses continue on a steady path, why is Purdue taking such “A Giant Leap” (pun intended)?
Mr. President Chiang
Mitch Daniels, for Hoosiers, is a household name. He served for eight years as Indiana’s governor, succeeded by Mike Pence, the future 45th Vice President. After his stint as governor, he turned to Purdue University, assuming the role of President of Purdue University on January 13th, 2013. Daniels had a successful run as president, as most students and alumni would claim. As a student during his time as president, I can say the student body as a whole adored him and his love for the school. He found a successor that he gave the reins to Purdue University in Mr. Mung Chiang.
Mung Chiang is a successful professor, dean, and even science and technology advisor to the secretary of state. His greatest feat as of now, however, is becoming the youngest president of a top 50 American university.
The data is few, and there is only one year being able to point to this conclusion, but enrollment has soared upwards in the one year Chiang has been president. Between Fall 2023 to Fall 2024 admissions, enrollment climbed to 12.8%. To compare, the previous nine years before this had an average 3.6% acceptance rate. The one large difference that can easily be pointed to is Mung Chiang being the new president. Mung Chiang was president for the previous two years, since January 2023, being at the head of this historical acceptance rate.
“Higher Than Expected Acceptance”
Purdue claimed that the reason for the largest class in its long history was “a higher than expected acceptance”. To explain the application process, which is utilized by *most likely* every university in the United States: Schools will send letters to everyone they would like in their program who applied, and Purdue claimed that more applicants chose Purdue over other schools.
Through Purdue’s release on enrollment data, they received 78,529 applicants, and even with an admission rate of 49.8% (a record low), 10,628 new students were welcomed on the West Lafayette, Indianapolis, and online “campuses”. 50,408 of the 58,009 total students are situated on the West Lafayette campus.
Overpopulation in West Lafayette
In 2022, Purdue managed to squeeze 15,896 students into their student dormitory and apartment housing. Keep in mind, this was when the population at West Lafayette’s campus was only ~51,000 students (not taking into account graduate/undergraduate or remote opportunities [Purdue Indianapolis was not founded until July 1st, 2024]). I could not find up-to-date numbers for 2024, but following the trends, fewer students could find university-sponsored housing.
Housing Crisis
When I attended Purdue University, I was entering a strange, unknown situation that most of the world had never felt. This, of course, being the COVID-19 virus. In this weird circumstance, I entered Purdue Housing in a two-person dorm room by myself. This continued for the full year (as I was not going to claim I had a single), then I moved into a two-person dorm with a friend the first semester of my sophomore year. Beyond that, I didn’t have to deal with university housing.
Some people aren’t as lucky to afford an apartment off campus and rely heavily on Purdue’s cheap housing accommodations while studying. In the past, anyone, even upperclassmen, could enter the housing portal to transfer or renew their contract. With the number of new students flooding in, Purdue has entered a strange time where a student must enter “a lottery system”. So what used to be a guarantee is now a stroke of luck, and many students can’t get lucky, possibly forcing them to move, or drop out completely. Those who lose the lottery, like Reddit user “Aznable-Char”, would have to move off campus, which would cost more per semester, not including purchases for food.
Another Reddit user, “StatisticianFew1253”, details their experience from Purdue Housing over the last three years. “My freshman year I applied to be in a double with a friend, ended up in a 6 person room. My sophomore year I got a terrible time slot and ended up in an apartment with no AC 30+ minute walk from campus.” Their junior year, upperclassmen time slots were completely removed, and they ended up in an apartment an hour walk away from campus. All it takes is a quick search on the r/Purdue subreddit to find hundreds of similar situations by students.
Limited Parking Spaces
Purdue, being in a very car-centric area of the United States, doesn’t quite have enough parking spaces for all of the students, faculty, and staff. I have my own run-ins with the Purdue Parking department, including a strongly worded Google review. Putting aside my personal hatred for the parking department, there isn’t enough parking to accompany everyone. I struggled to find numbers, but if we estimate, there were roughly 10,000 new undergraduate students in 2024. Given this, at least 95% of those freshmen do not have personal vehicles, and roughly half of sophomores don’t. Even if half of the juniors at Purdue didn’t have personal vehicles, Purdue doesn’t have enough parking.
In a more personal tale, I can say that if you arrived past eleven a.m. on any given weekday morning, you won’t find a spot. You’ll have to either drive endlessly in the garage until someone leaves, or pay for parking elsewhere. The garage permits at Purdue only grant access to a specific garage, and B/C permits force you to park a half-hour walk away. When the majority of lots are shut down or full, and you have a class to attend, there’s nothing you can do. I could go on for hours about Purdue’s parking situation, but I’ve made my point.
What needs to be done?
Purdue loves flaunting their 13-year frozen tuition, and yeah, it’s great: for in-state students. Just under $10,000 per semester is a great price for a prestigious education. However, so many sacrifices are being made to make it happen, including lack of housing/parking. In the last year, we can turn to data from housing apps, such as RentCafe. The average rent price in West Lafayette, IN in July 2023 was roughly ~$1,600/month. The following price, in July 2024, jumped over $250 to $1,857. The main reason behind this is the increased demand for housing.
But hey, at least Purdue acknowledged that they needed more options for student housing. They established over 15 master leases with surrounding apartment complexes, giving students more options. More options that cost more compared to the dormitory halls and are further from the center of campus. Let’s hop back to the housing lottery again, if you will. Let’s hop into their shoes for a minute. Over 1,700 students are forced to find off-campus housing in a competitive market last minute. If anyone has had to do this before, they know prices will soar even more for a last-minute accommodation.
In my opinion, Purdue has messed up and will see the issues start up in real time. With the abundance of students on campus, rent will continue to rise. More students thinking of applying to Purdue will remove the school from their list, and apply elsewhere. I think this is a peak of the student body, which will slowly fall, and balance out around 53,000. Purdue needs to remove the frozen tuition and use some of the extra funding for building more housing and parking. Only once they can handle more students should they admit more.
Sources
Thank you to the following sites/people for the information needed for this article: Purdue Exponent (x2), RentCafe, Reddit (x2), Purdue Housing, Purdue (x2), Wikipedia, and UMaine.