by our College Data Analytics TeamPurdue University Northwest is a public institution in Hammond, Indiana enrolling 5,671 undergraduates. It accepts 72% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 43%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,449 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 28%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Purdue University Northwest ranks #1,449 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 28%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Purdue University Northwest was awarded 554 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Purdue University Northwest as #1,449 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
Purdue University Northwest is also ranked #32 on the Best Colleges in Indiana list.
See all of the rankings for Purdue University Northwest.
Purdue University Northwest has an acceptance rate of 72%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 72% of students accepted to Purdue University Northwest submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 450 and 570. Math scores were between 440 and 570.
Purdue University Northwest received ACT scores from 3% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 16 and 24.
Learn more about Purdue University Northwest admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 17 to 1, Purdue University Northwest is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Purdue University Northwest is 98%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Purdue University Northwest is 66%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Purdue University Northwest for first-time, full-time students is 43%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Purdue University Northwest.
The current enrollment includes 5,671 undergraduates at Purdue University Northwest.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Purdue University Northwest.
The overall average net price of Purdue University Northwest is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,432 | $2,428 | $7,026 | $12,452 | $13,645 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Purdue University Northwest, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Purdue University Northwest, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $6,038 a year. That adds up to $24,152 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 11.9%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Purdue University Northwest.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Purdue University Northwest make around $48,318 per year during the early years of their employment. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at Purdue University Northwest make the most money.
Purdue University Northwest is an public institution situated in Hammond, Indiana. Hammond is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs. Get more details about the location of Purdue University Northwest.
Contact details for Purdue University Northwest can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2200 169th Street, Hammond, IN 46323 |
| Phone: | 2199892400 |
| Website: | www.pnw.edu |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 22 majors graduated from Purdue University Northwest. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,522 | NA |
| Nursing | 423 | $72,835 |
| Computer Science | 98 | NA |
| Engineering-Related Fields | 90 | $52,444 |
| Business Administration & Management | 85 | $46,945 |
| Accounting | 67 | $40,367 |
| Electrical Engineering | 53 | $68,723 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 52 | $38,782 |
| General Psychology | 48 | $26,983 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 46 | $64,537 |
2,232 students took at least one online class at Purdue University Northwest.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Purdue University Northwest.
Interested in comparing Purdue University Northwest? Match them up using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.