Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and money ...

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and money from Lafayette businessman John Purdue to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name.he West Lafayette campus offers more than 200 majors for undergraduates, over 70 master’s and doctoral programs, and professional degrees in pharmacy and veterinary medicine. In addition, Purdue has 18 intercollegiate sports teams and more than 900 student organizations. Today, Purdue is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue enrolls the second largest student body of any university in Indiana as well as the fourth largest international student population of any university in the United States.Purdue University routinely ranks highly in accredited national and world university rankings such as the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges and the QS World University Rankings for their distinguished academic programs. Purdue's engineering program has been ranked highly by both national and international ranking agencies. Purdue University's programs in engineering, education and business continue to be ranked among the best in the country in U.S. News & World Report's graduate school rankings. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Purdue's College of Engineering No. 8 in the country. In 2012, the college's graduate program was ranked 10th.