Why choose a Professional Master's in Chemical Engineering from Purdue?

A Professional Master's degree from the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering could be your most valuable career investment. Purdue Chemical Engineers are highly valued in industry, as evident from our highly successful alumni located all around the world. The same goes for our Professional Master's students who experience increased employment opportunities as well as earning potential after completing the program. 

Excellence at Scale and Speed

The Davidson School of Chemical Engineering has been educating future leaders in chemical engineering for over 100 years and Purdue's College of Engineering is one of the largest and strongest programs in the nation with 13 different schools and departments. In as little as 12-months, students can complete the Professional Master's Program and join the ranks of more than 82,000 living Purdue Engineering alumni.

Placement & ROI

According to the 2017 AIChE Salary Report, engineers with a Master's degree earn 25% more than chemical engineers with a Bachelor's degree, reporting a median salary of $137,400 vs $110,000, respectively. Our August 2019 graduates reported an average starting salary of $82,000, with 83% attaining employment within 6 months of graduation.
 
Historically, 94% of our graduates attain employment within 6 months of graduation and receive an average starting salary of $72,000.*
 
Companies that have hired our graduates:
  • 3M
  • Alcon
  • BASF
  • Catalent
  • Cook Biotech
  • Dow Chemical Company
  • DuPont
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • Emerson
  • ExxonMobil
  • Intel Corporation
  • Johnson Matthey
  • LyondellBasell
  • McKinsey & Co.
  • National Key Laboratories
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Ramboll
  • Unilever
  • Whirlpool Corporation

Affordability & Low Cost of Living

The cost of living in the Greater Lafayette-West Lafayette area is one of the lowest in the nation, with housing rent ranging from 21% to 108% less expensive than competing university cities (rentcafe.com). 

  Tuition Cost of Living Average Apt Rent Utility Index Sales Tax

Purdue University:

Resident: ​​

  • $13,895.00 for 12-months
  • $19,453.00 for 16-months

Non-resident/International: 

  • $37,397.50 for 12-months
  • $52,356.50 for 16-months
 83.8+ $1,081 103.6 7.00%

Carnegie Mellon University:

 ~$48,500 per year 83.8 $1,413 102.3 7.00%

Columbia University: 

 ~$63,120 per year 187.2 $3,654 150.5 4.00%

Cornell University:

 ~$58,586 per year 98.8 $1,396 **+ 100 8.00%

Johns Hopkins University:

 ~$55,350 per year 88.2 $1,330 107.3 6.00%

Northwestern University:

  ~$56,067 per year 119.9 $2,009 95 10.25%
 
*Employment and salary data is based upon self-reported data from recent graduates. 
+ Figures are averaged from both West Lafayette & Lafayette.
** Data for apartments within 2 miles of campus. The data on average rents comes directly from competitively-rented (market-rate) large-scale multifamily properties (50+ units in size), in over 130 markets across the U.S. Apartment rent data was provided by Yardi Matrix, a RENTCafé sister company.
**+ Data reported for city average rent as data for apartments within 2 miles of campus is not available.