Student Life Tours

Many Engineering buildings are located in this part of campus. Although they are home to Engineering programs, students from across campus can have classes in these buildings. It all depends on class size and room availability.  

Purdue University Student Health Center (PUSH). Serves as the go-to place for health services on campus. Resource for primary medical care, mental health therapy and after-hours care. Students who are currently enrolled full-time and have paid the student fee are eligible for office visits only at no charge from the first day of the semester to graduation day that semester. All other eligible students and spouses or domestic partners are eligible to be seen, but will be charged for office visits.

Conveniently located right next door, the Pharmacy building has a retail pharmacy that students can utilize. Fun Fact: Purdue’s Pharmacy program is a six year professional program.  

The nursing building is right next to the pharmacy. It seems smaller on the outside because it is partially underground just like Hicks Library. Our nurses work in the medical field at different hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers in our community.

Neil Armstrong statue – there is a replica of Neil’s first steps on the moon.

Purdue has been called the “cradle of astronauts” for good reason. Twenty-four (as of June 8, 2017) Purdue graduates have been selected for space travel, including the first (Neil Armstrong) and most recent (Eugene Cernan) astronauts to walk on the moon.

Campus academic life – classes close together. Student life everyone is living, playing together.

(This is not a stop, but talk about it as you are heading towards Cary and University Residences Alumni and Guest Center

Boarding pass – students can purchase for $99, guarantees a ticket to every home football game as well as the opportunity to get tickets to men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball games (additional costs for student section tickets). All other sports are free with your Purdue ID (tennis, softball, baseball, etc.).

There is also an option of joining different student sections for different sports. The price includes early entry to the games, free t-shirt, and even the option of meeting the teams and coaches.

Cary Quadrangle is one of Purdue’s oldest and most historic residence halls. Cary has the highest student capacity, as one of two all-male residence halls on campus (Tarkington is the other). University Residences Alumni and Guest Center is a great resource for prospective students and their families who want to learn more about the residence halls than is offered on the general Daily Visit. The center is open Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

There are 17 residence halls on campus.

More than 90% of incoming freshmen choose to live on campus, on average. However, it is not required to live on campus as a freshman.

There are six dining courts total on campus. Two are stand-alone buildings (Wiley and Ford) while the other 4 are housed within residence halls (Windsor, Hillenbrand, Meredith, and Earhart). The dining court in Meredith is called The Gathering Place. Each dining court specializes in different cuisine, and menus are online so you can choose your favorite meal. 

There is also a food truck called The Daily Bite. You can use swipes and dining dollars here!

Meal Plans – Students who live in the residence halls have a variety of meal plans that they can choose from, depending on their needs. 

Different Meal Plan options at Purdue

On-the-GO! – offers convenience for students who don’t have time to stop and sit down for a meal. The service is quick, and the choices are many. 

One meal swipe = 1 entree & 3 side items + a free refill in your reusable mug (given to all students at move-in). 

Dining dollars – automatically part of most meal plans, come loaded on student’s Purdue ID card. Use to buy snacks, convenience store items or extra meals for themselves or guests in any residential dining court or retail operation.

Activity room – ping pong, study areas, laundry, It’s where student life happens.

Res. Hall clubs – each res hall has a club that puts on activities such as painting, canoeing, or barbecuing.

Show Room – All of the wooden furniture comes with the room and must stay in the room. This room is not air conditioned. That is only a concern during the first and last few weeks of the school year, and fans can act as a substitute.

Bedloft – you can choose to loft your bed if you want ($105). You can also rent mini-fridges and microwaves, the option of buying futons is also there. If you choose to use the company Bedloft, everything will be ready and waiting for you in your room upon move-in.

Roommates – RoomSync, Admitted student Facebook – some of the ways to find a roommate. You also have the option of going completely random. Just fill out a small questionnaire to see who you are compatible with and Purdue will do the rest.

Learning Communities – Purdue has learning communities where students that have similar interests (academic/extracurricular) can live together in a residence hall.

Resident Assistant (RA) – mentors, problem solvers, community builders. They are responsible for about 40-50 students and their floors in each residence hall. They also put on events throughout the year to help you de-stress and have some fun.

Slayter Hill – concerts, sledding, movies, tailgaiting – room for up to 20,000 people.

David Ross (one of Purdue’s greatest benefactors – Ross-Ade Stadium) and Mrs. Beering (wife of former Purdue president) are buried on Slayter Hill as well.

During football season, this is also used for tailgating by Boilermaker fans across the country.

CityBus is free with a Purdue ID. Great to get around campus and beyond – Walmart, Target, the mall, downtown, etc. By downloading the CityBus DoubleMap app you can track buses in real time.

You don’t need a car on campus, but if you do (medical appointments, off campus employment, military duty, etc) you may qualify to purchase a parking pass.

Zipcar – rent a Zipcar for a couple of hours or a whole day.

Freshmen are technically not allowed to have their cars on campus. Freshman Parking Lottery – register to win a parking pass.

Bring your bike or join Zagster – the campus bike sharing program  – one of the most successful bike share programs in the country. (24 hour pass/yearly membership fee).

Skateboarding, longboarding, and rollerblading are all very popular transportation methods as well.

You name it, you can do it at the France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center. Gymnasiums, recreational and competitive aquatics centers, a 55 foot climbing wall, bouldering walls, a demonstration kitchen, indoor soccer, multiple tracks, wallyball, table tennis, badminton and fitness classes. And, from disc golf to inner tube water polo, the rec center hosts dozens of club and intramural sports.

The Co-Rec had a $98 million renovation that was completed in 2012.

All of the equipment is state of the art and used daily by many students and staff.

GroupX – $50 fee per semester for fitness classes (Zumba, Yoga, Kickboxing, etc.)

A focal point for the Purdue student success corridor.

Academic resource – Supplemental Instruction, tutoring, specialized programs including Purdue Promise and Horizons.

The 50,000 square foot facility is a hub for collaboration, service and academic engagement and a magnet for students who want to connect with opportunities to enhance their overall Purdue experience.

Purdue’s more than 1,000 student organizations and activities – many of their meetings are held here and leadership offices are located in the building.

Among Purdue’s newest student residences, Third Street Suites offers a fresh concept in campus housing.

Suite-style living upstairs, a market and Starbucks downstairs, dining and recreation facilities right next door. Although our newest student residences are the cream of the crop, all student housing provides convenient on-campus living options. Purdue students are never required to live on campus, but 95% choose to their first year. It’s one of the best ways to start making friends and get connected to campus life.

Did you know? There are 2 main Starbucks on campus – one in the Union and one in 3^rd Street Suites AND we sell Starbucks in most of the coffee shops in the academic buildings throughout campus including Cary Knight Spot and Harrison Grillé!

The Windsor Halls complex includes five distinct buildings; Wood, Shealy, Vawter, Warren and Duhme.

The oldest women’s residence hall on campus.

The dining court in the basement specializes in vegetarian and vegan options.

There area a set of tunnels that connect the Windsor buildings underground.

In the heart of the student success corridor you will find an Indiana first – an academic residential college, where some of Purdue’s brightest minds live, learn and build a community.

It’s a contemporary, dynamic environment that artfully integrates next-generation learning facilities with living space – large and small study rooms, quiet reading nooks, comfy lounges and living rooms, modern offices and a convenient restaurant.
One of the facility’s most prominent features is the Honors Hall, a modern-day take on the Great Hall from “Harry Potter,” with seating for over 400 – perfect for lectures, presentations, movies and special events.

The new Honors College facility attracts scholars from all areas of study, providing an immersive, transformational learning environment.

These facilities are active year-round, providing welcoming environments for campus and the Greater Lafayette community. They also sponsor events, speakers and performances during the school year.

All of our centers support Purdue’s commitment to education, diversity and student engagement while serving as a home away from home, where students meet and establish lifelong friendships.

Black Cultural Center
The Black Cultural Center is 18,500 sq ft and reflects traditional African architecture.
Home of 7 different performing arts ensembles
Has a library and computer lab

Latino Cultural Center
¡Todos Son Bienvenidos! “All are welcome!” is the guiding philosophy of the Latino Cultural Center.
Hosts Lunch Series
Spanish and Portuguese Conversation Tables

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Center
Offers Safe Zone and Trans Inclusion trainings
Offers resources to teach about inclusion and the LGBTQ+ community such hosting as panels.
We are one of only 7% of campuses in the US to have a dedicated resource center.

Native American Educational and Cultural Center
Hosts Soupper Wednesdays
Holds the NAECC Book and Media collection

Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center
The youngest of the cultural centers
Home to a Asian/Asian American library

Purdue’s Greek community is one of the largest in the nation, about 20% of student body.

5,000 students hold membership in over 80 organizations.

The focus is on achieving a balanced life based on four guiding principles: scholarship, leadership, service, and friendship.

The Greek system has some of the highest GPAs on campus. They also raise the most money for philanthropy events.

Cooperatives are an affordable, community living option. They do their own cooking and cleaning which creates the most affordable housing option on campus, when including meals and utilities.

They don’t have any national affiliate so they are run through Purdue and their individual members.

Cooperatives are involved in intramurals, philanthropies, and other Purdue campus activities.

There are 5 houses for men and 7 houses for women that range from 15-65 members depending on the house.

The cooperatives pride themselves in the fact that they have the highest average GPA of all living options on campus.

One interesting fact about cooperatives is that you can actually go through the recruitment process as a high school senior.

Emergency telephone call boxes
Yellow with a blue light on top, prominently located across campus (about 3,000 of them). Purdue police headquarters answers within seconds when you push the button. It is about a 90 second response time to any location on campus. West Lafayette has been named one of the safest college towns in the US by security company Safewise.

Fire & Police
In addition to providing fire protection to the Purdue community, the Purdue Fire Department has two Advanced Life Support ambulances that offer the highest level of pre-hospital care. All department staff members are trained to the hazardous materials technician level and are trained and certified in aircraft rescue and firefighting.

SafeWalk
Call the number on the back of your Purdue ID for a safe walk to anywhere on campus. You can volunteer to be a SafeWalk patroller to walk Purdue’s Campus.

The Bechtel Innovation Design Center (BIDC) was inspired by students who asked for an advanced prototyping facility (Makerspace) where they could come together to design and build solutions to real-world problems.

The center will support students from across Purdue as they pursue personal, entrepreneurial, societal, team, and class related projects.

No previous knowledge is needed to access the center – only a willingness to learn and work safely. Space and mentorship will be available for team and individual projects on a limited basis, this will require a committed project plan and regular interaction with BIDC staff.

As this center is focused on student needs, it will be soft started and ramped to full utilization in response to student use. The majority of the capital equipment is in place and is in commissioning. A safety regime and training materials are being developed while the building is finished. It is anticipated that the facility will begin hosting students in mid September 2017.

Initially the center will have CNC tools, waterjet cutter, laser cutter, laser engraver, 3D plastic printing, paint and surface finishing, welding, wood working tools, and electronics assembly.

The building is conveniently located at the corner of 3rd and North Russell.