Indiana University President Pamela Whitten and Purdue University President Mung Chiang agreed to end IUPUI in 2023. IU Indianapolis kept almost all programs and will grow research and STEM programs. Purdue will continue to specialize in engineering, computer science and technology as an extension of the flagship campus. (Ben Thorp / WBAA)
While welcoming Purdue University to Indianapolis, Mayor Joe Hogsett told a story of rivalry.
Though he's the son of a Purdue graduate, Hogsett went to Indiana University. When his father’s friends asked why he went to IU, Hogsett’s Boilermaker father had a simple explanation.
“My father would swell with pride and look back at his Purdue friends and say, ‘Because he couldn’t get in Purdue,’” Hogsett said at Purdue’s celebration ceremony. The crowd applauded.
While the two schools were rivals on and off the court, Purdue and IU shared a campus, IUPUI, in Indianapolis. But the collaborative campus experiment ended July 1 after 55 years. New, separate campuses took its place: IU Indianapolis and Purdue in Indianapolis.
The state awarded each campus $60 million for construction.
Hogsett didn’t forget his alma mater, and he proclaimed July 1 as IU Indianapolis day.
The two universities now have their own urban research campuses.
Read more: IU, Purdue officially dissolve IUPUI
“We know the first couple of years, there'll be a lot of transition to that and we’ll make sure that we grow at a pace that enables students to have a phenomenal experience,” IU President Pamela Whitten told WTIU/WFIU News in August.
Whitten and former Purdue President Mitch Daniels set the separation in motion in 2022. Current Purdue President Mung Chiang and Whitten formalized the agreement in 2023. The Board of Trustees from both universities agreed.
Daniels said Purdue needed its own identity.
“Sometimes, the longer you wait for something, the longer you imagine it, plan for it, the sweeter it is when it arrives,” Daniels said.
Read more: Purdue launches Indy campus after IUPUI split
IU and Purdue will “teach out” IUPUI students, committing to help students pursue the academic programs they already began. The two universities also pledged to uphold existing financial aid and scholarships. These students are expected to finish by spring 2027.
Starting this fall, new students will enroll in IU Indianapolis or Purdue West Lafayette.
IU keeps most of IUPUI in split, but connections remain
IU retained almost all IUPUI academic programs and students. About 20,000 students will enroll this fall, and the campus will support about 400 academic programs. It’s also taking over IUPUI’s facilities and buildings. In-state students will pay about $11,000 for tuition and fees.
Purdue kept IUPUI’s engineering and computer science programs. In-state students also pay the same frozen tuition and fee rate as West Lafayette students: $9,992.
Students affected by academic realignment must choose between IU or Purdue by Nov. 29.
Despite the split, IU’s partnership with Purdue will continue.
IU Indianapolis will keep the Jaguars athletics programs. Students who enrolled in IUPUI can still compete as Jaguars, new students cannot.
Read more: A huge, exciting responsibility: IU Indianapolis begins after IUPUI split
IU will provide housing for Purdue students next year, and Purdue students can join most IU clubs and extracurricular organizations.
IU Indianapolis Chancellor Latha Ramchand said Purdue and IU have a long history of collaboration. Though the name has changed, she said the IU and Purdue relationship will continue.
“Because good ideas are not the prerogative of any one institution,” Ramchand said. “Good ideas — especially good ideas that will help us overcome some of our biggest challenges in society — we need good minds from all over the world working on those ideas. They're just a stone's throw away from here.”
Purdue extends West Lafayette’s reach
Purdue in Indianapolis is an extension of the West Lafayette campus that focuses on STEM education, Chiang said. Indianapolis students will take the same courses and apply under the same standards as those in West Lafayette.
Purdue plans to create shuttles back and forth between the two campuses.
“This is not a regional campus. This is part of Purdue’s main campus,” Chaing said.
Purdue announced plans for a 248,000-square-foot Academic Success Building, costing $187 million, on West and Michigan streets. The building will include residence halls, academic classrooms, labs and dining areas. Construction will finish in 2027.
Read more: Purdue Indianapolis engineering college to grow partnerships and student careers
In all, Purdue plans to support a 28-acre campus.
“We are going to grow in Indianapolis,” Chiang said. “This is, for us, year one.”
The university is adding to its academic programs in Indianapolis.
Undergraduates can major in motorsports engineering. That program partners with Dallara’s U.S. headquarters in Speedway. Dallara is the large, multinational Italian race car manufacturer. The College of Engineering will offer four other majors in Indianapolis.
New graduate programs include pharmaceutical engineering.
In Indianapolis, the university emphasizes working-while-learning and closer connections to job opportunities with more than 500 industry partners.
“We think of education in the broad sense,” Chiang said. “Not just the freshmen, as much as we're excited by them. We're excited about all aspects of education.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb said Purdue’s presence will attract and keep talent in Indiana.
“To have our only land grant university, Purdue University, continuing to expand the horizon and to be developing these direct pipelines into industry,” Holcomb said. “This is creating not just job security, it's creating career security.”
IU plans to grow STEM programs, build more local connections
Whitten and IU Indianapolis leaders also have announced new projects and growth.
Using $60 million from the state, IU will build a Science and Technology Corridor at Michigan and West streets. Construction on an 11-story research and education building will end in 2025.
Two new research institutes — The Institute for Convergent Bioscience and Biotechnology and the Institute for Human Health and Wellness — are in the works. The institutes are part of a $250 million investment in life and health sciences.
Whitten said the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering will double enrollment in Indianapolis and add new departments.
The Board of Trustees approved a plan to build a $110 million athletic center for Jaguars and local athletes.
Whitten said existing IUPUI programs — such as the arts, business, law and medicine — will be updated.
“We are a comprehensive university as well, so that will continue and expand,” Whitten said.
As IU secures funding and grows lab spaces, Ramchand said she wants the campus to go beyond publishing research.
“What about the research can be converted into an action plan that we can then start implementing, so your research actually makes a difference in my life?” Ramchand said.
IU Indianapolis campus recently struck a deal with all public schools in the city, and it will automatically admit eligible high schooler seniors to remove barriers to college. In May, 158 students enrolled through the program.
Ramchand and enrollment leaders want to expand the automatic admission program to all Indianapolis high schools. Most IU Indianapolis students are from Marion County.
Ramchand, a first-generation college graduate, said her goal is to see students graduate on time and with more options than when they began. She wants IU to show students and families the possibilities of a college degree without talking down to them.
“I often believe that we don't just admit students, we adopt them,” Ramchand said. “When a student comes to us and we admit them, we have a responsibility to that student, we need to make sure they graduate on time that they graduate with more options than when they started.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
