Purdue Welcomes Largest Freshman Class Since 2008

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University is reporting the largest freshman class on its main campus in West Lafayette since 2008 and the most from Indiana since 2010.

Purdue said Monday its 6,800 first-year students represents an increase of more than 300 over last year's entering class. The total includes 3,500 Indiana residents, or more than half of the incoming class. The Indiana total is up by more than 200 from last year.

Purdue partly credits the increase in first-year in-state students to a doubling of the size of a scholarship — to $4,000 — that's available for middle-income Indiana residents.

Overall enrollment in West Lafayette has risen by more than 600 students to 39,400.

Purdue says the freshman class includes more than 2,200 U.S. nonresidents and more than 1,000 international students.