This article was originally reported in November 2025.
Purdue University placed No. 10 in the world in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) Interdisciplinary Science Rankings, released on November 20, 2025. Purdue says the result also makes it No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 3 among U.S. public universities. The 2026 table covered 911 institutions from 94 countries and territories, 38 of them in the United States (Purdue University News, November 20, 2025).
Purdue rose ten places: it was No. 20 in the inaugural 2025 edition (Purdue Today, 2024).
The 2026 top 10
According to THE’s results announcement (November 20, 2025), the top 10 were:
| 2026 rank | Institution | Country | 2025 rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford University | United States | 2 |
| 3 | California Institute of Technology | United States | 4 |
| 4 | University of California, Berkeley | United States | not ranked |
| 5 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore | 9 |
| 6 | Duke University | United States | 5 |
| 7 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States | not ranked |
| 8 | National University of Singapore | Singapore | 3 |
| 9 | Wageningen University & Research | Netherlands | 7 |
| 10 | Purdue University West Lafayette | United States | 20 |
U.S. institutions held 18 of the top 50 places and 24 of the top 100, more top-100 places than any other country. India had the most ranked institutions overall (88), and City University of Hong Kong jumped from 25th to 11th.
How the ranking works
THE produces the Interdisciplinary Science Rankings with Schmidt Science Fellows. It scores universities on 11 metrics in three pillars (THE methodology, 2026 edition):
- Inputs (19%): interdisciplinary science research funding (8%) and industry funding (11%).
- Process (16%): how the university measures success, physical facilities, administrative support, and promotion and tenure for interdisciplinary work (4% each).
- Outputs (65%): number of interdisciplinary science publications (10%), their share of all output (5%), “utility outside of discipline,” based on how widely citations reach other fields (5%), research quality (20%), and reputation among researchers (25%).
To be ranked, a university must submit data to the THE World University Rankings 2026, declare at least one science subject (computer science, engineering, life sciences or physical sciences), publish at least 100 interdisciplinary science papers in 2020–2024, and have at least 50 academic staff in those subjects. Bibliometric data come from Elsevier’s Scopus, and the reputation measure comes from a 2025 survey of active researchers. Ranks 1–200 are listed individually; lower positions are shown in bands.
What Purdue credited
- Research spending. Provost Patrick Wolfe said Purdue’s research expenditures had passed $1 billion for the first time. He named quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, drug discovery, and physical AI and robotics as priority areas.
- Discovery Park District. Dan DeLaurentis, executive vice president for research, linked the result to the 20th anniversary of the Discovery Park District, which houses 14 interdisciplinary research organizations managed by the Office of Research, including the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Bindley Bioscience Center.
- THE’s assessment. THE wrote that Purdue had been “embedding interdisciplinarity in budgets, buildings and partnerships for more than 20 years.”
(All from Purdue University News.)
What the 2026 results showed about U.S. universities
THE’s analysis found that U.S. universities are strongest in the outputs pillar: 13 were in the top 20 for outputs, helped by high reputation scores. They were weaker elsewhere. Only six U.S. institutions made the top 20 for process, and only MIT made the top 20 for inputs. After THE broadened the methodology beyond STEM, the average rank of U.S. institutions ranked in both years fell from 165 to 229. Researchers quoted by THE warned that recent U.S. federal research funding cuts could make long, multi-year interdisciplinary projects harder to plan (THE).
How to read this ranking as a student
This is a specialized research ranking. It measures how much interdisciplinary science a university funds, supports and publishes, with heavy weight on citations and researcher reputation. It says little about undergraduate teaching, class sizes or cost. It is most relevant if you are looking for research-heavy graduate programs or undergraduate research in fields that cross boundaries, such as nanotechnology, biosciences, data science or advanced manufacturing.
In the broader rankings on Forward Pathway, Purdue’s West Lafayette campus is No. 55 in the U.S. News 2027 national universities ranking, No. 84 in the THE World University Rankings 2027, No. 100 in the QS World University Rankings 2027 and No. 100 in the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities (see our U.S. college rankings).
Purdue for international students
- International enrollment. In fall 2025 Purdue’s main campus enrolled 58,658 students, including 9,967 international students: 4,429 of 44,819 undergraduates and 5,538 of 13,839 graduate students (IPEDS).
- Admissions. Purdue received 78,745 first-year applications for fall 2025 and admitted 49.9% (IPEDS). First-year students apply through the Common App; the application opens August 1, the Early Action deadline (also the merit scholarship, Honors College and competitive-major priority deadline) is November 1, and Regular Decision closes January 15. The application fee is $60 (Purdue Admissions). International applicants should check the English proficiency requirements before applying (Purdue international admissions).
- Cost. Nonresident undergraduate tuition and required fees were $28,794 for 2025–26 (IPEDS). Purdue reported in October 2026 that it has frozen tuition for 14 consecutive years and will keep 2027–28 room and board the lowest in the Big Ten (Purdue University News, October 2026).
Latest update
In the year since this ranking, Purdue has continued to expand research partnerships. In October 2026 it signed a master research agreement with GlobalFoundries (Purdue) and launched, with Sandia National Laboratories, the SPARTA-H hypersonics master’s program (Purdue). On November 5, 2026, Purdue’s Board of Trustees elected Jay B. Silveria as the university’s 14th president, effective February 1, 2027 (Purdue).
References
- Purdue lands in global top 10 of interdisciplinary sciences rankings (Purdue University News, November 20, 2025)
- Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026: results announced (Times Higher Education)
- Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026: methodology (Times Higher Education)
- Purdue’s strengths in interdisciplinary sciences places it No. 20 globally (Purdue Today, 2024)
- First-year application deadlines (Purdue Admissions)
- Purdue leads on affordability with frozen tuition, accelerated degree pathways (Purdue University News, 2026)
- Purdue University-Main Campus profile (Forward Pathway)