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🎓 College profile

Purdue University Fort Wayne

IN · Public · Large city · 6,466 applicants 2023

86% admit rate SAT 960–1190 $20,224/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$22,183/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$45,872/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 11 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • Worth asking: the four-year finish rate. Only 36% finish in four years here. Ask what drives that — course availability, transfers, work loads — because a fifth year is a real cost few families budget for.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at Purdue University Fort Wayne Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. Purdue University Fort Wayne starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$13,171/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$9,532 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Business, Management, & Marketing or Education (the two biggest majors)

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 960, or ACT below 19 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M2: Master's - Medium Programs
Total enrollment
5,484
5,000 - 9,999
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$9,532
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$22,887
+$13,355 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
85.7%
Accepts the majority
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
960–1190
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
19–26
composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$45,872
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$42,873
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$45,872
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
36%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$21,500

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $20,224/yr at Purdue University Fort Wayne; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$22,183/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

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Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with Purdue University Fort Wayne's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$20,224/yr
Family income $75-110k
$18,430/yr
Family income $48-75k
$12,444/yr
Family income $30-48k
$8,703/yr
Family income $0-30k
$8,306/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

5.2× at full price 8.7× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$88,732
~$22,183/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$52,684
$13,171/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$458,720
$45,872/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.9 yrs
at full price (1.1 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at Purdue University Fort Wayne

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Purdue University Fort Wayne actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
213 degrees · 36.5%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Education
123 degrees · 21.1%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
3. Visual & Performing Arts
89 degrees · 15.3%
Highly variable. Steady-pay roles cluster in design, illustration, production. Performance careers have very wide income distributions.
4. Engineering
79 degrees · 13.6%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
5. Liberal Arts, Humanities, & General Studies
79 degrees · 13.6%
Flexible degree → many paths. Real outcomes depend on the second skill (data, coding, teaching cert).

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Purdue University Fort Wayne's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 39 $61,354 $101,396
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 15 $64,534 $85,075
Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree 26 $65,385 $81,259
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. Bachelor's Degree — $70,046 $74,918
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management. Bachelor's Degree 13 $50,248 $73,576
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician. Bachelor's Degree 6 $58,954 $72,564
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. Bachelor's Degree — $51,836 $70,428
Computer and Information Sciences, General. Bachelor's Degree 7 — $69,013
Business/Commerce, General. Bachelor's Degree 131 $46,950 $63,627
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 44 $42,902 $60,816

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

Alternatives to Purdue University Fort Wayne

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
United States Merchant Marine Academy
NY · Public
$9,168/yr full price (in-state) · $13,015 less before aid
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $10,346 less before aid
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $8,227 less before aid

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