Purdue University

Purdue University is a coeducational, state-assisted system in Indiana. Founded in 1869 and named after benefactor John Purdue, the University is one of the nation's leading research institutions with a reputation for excellent and affordable education.

Building upon historical strengths in engineering and agriculture, the West Lafayette campus currently offers 5,800 courses in more than 400 undergraduate majors and specializations in the schools/colleges of Agriculture, Consumer and Family Sciences, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Liberal Arts, Management, Nursing, Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, Science, Technology, and Veterinary Medicine. Programs of graduate study and research leading to advanced degrees fall under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School.

UNIVERSITY FOUNDING

July 2, 1862. President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, by which the federal government offered to turn over public lands to any state that agreed to use the proceeds from their sale to maintain a college for the purpose of teaching agriculture and the "mechanic arts."

1865. The Indiana General Assembly voted to participate in this plan and took steps to establish such an institution.

May 6, 1869. The Indiana General Assembly decided to locate the institution near Lafayette and accepted $150,000 from John Purdue, $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 100 acres of land from local residents. Legislators established the institution and named it Purdue University.

September 16, 1874. Classes began with six instructors and 39 students.

On January 11, 1895, President James Smart of Purdue called a meeting in Chicago with presidents from seven Midwestern universities to consider regulation and control of intercollegiate athletics. Thus began the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, known eventually as the "Big Ten."

With a vote by the Council of the Big Ten university presidents in June 1990, The Pennsylvania State University became the 11th member of the conference, joining Purdue University, University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, and University of Wisconsin.

BOILERMAKERS

Boilermakers On October 26, 1891, the Purdue football team was, for the first time, called "Boiler Makers" by a Crawfordsville reporter who wrote about Purdue's 44-0 trouncing of Wabash College. Soon after, Lafayette newspapers picked up the name, and in October 1892 The Purdue Exponent gave it the stamp of approval. In the early days of Purdue football, the team was called other names as well, including "haymakers," "railsplitters," and "cornfield sailors."

In 1930, West Lafayette campus enrollment was 85 percent male (3,851) and 15 percent female (693). In 2007, the ratio is 58.1 percent male (22,720) and 41.9 percent female (16,382).

Students on the West Lafayette campus come from the following areas: Indiana, 58.9 percent; other states, 26.3 percent; U.S. territories, residents abroad, and residents alien, 2.1 percent; foreign nations, 12.8 percent.

Represented in the total enrollment are 50 states and the District of Columbia, three territories, residents abroad, resident aliens, and 124 foreign nations.

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