Purdue to Lower Room And Board
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Purdue University Board of Trustees has approved several changes to room and board rates and programs. For the second straight academic year, the university will reduce the cost of living on its West Lafayette campus. Purdue has also announced details of a system-wide doctor of nursing practice program and the merger of a pair of technology programs.
December 14, 2013
News Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University will decrease overall room rates and for the second consecutive year reduce board rates.
Purdue's Board of Trustees on Saturday (Dec. 14) approved a 2.5 percent reduction in the predominant room and board rates for the 2014-15 academic year. The overall average rate reduction is 0.2 percent for housing, and prices for the most popular dining plans are being cut by 5 percent, marking the second straight year that board rates have decreased by 5 percent. Tuition will remain unchanged for 2013-14 as part of a two-year freeze announced last spring.
The board also approved new discounted rates for a 12-month room and board contract, as well as rates for Purdue's Calumet and Fort Wayne campuses.
“Our pledge to students and their families is to deliver a world-class college experience – from the classroom to campus life – and to keep a Purdue education as affordable as possible,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said. “By controlling and, when feasible, cutting rates, we seek to extend the clear academic and social benefits of living on campus to as many students as possible.”
Students living in residence halls are required to carry one of four meal plans, ranging from $2,998 to $5,172, and starting next fall dining dollars can be used in all Housing and Food Services retail locations. Depending on the type of campus housing students select, the price per academic year for room only, minus a required meal plan, will range from $2,574 for a room with two beds in Cary Quadrangle to $9,500 for a single-bed unit in First Street Towers. There also are options at Purdue apartment complexes where no meal plan is required.
Additionally, another housing option will be available to students with the opening of the Third Street Suites next fall on the West Lafayette campus.
Purdue also will provide a room-rate discount of about $150 for students opting for a 12-month housing contract and staying in McCutcheon Hall to continue their studies during the summer months.
“While serving a diverse student population and maintaining affordability, we're also providing an incentive for students to stay on campus during the summer to work toward their degree requirements,” said James Almond, senior vice president for business services and assistant treasurer.
Purdue's on-campus residence program houses more than 11,919 students, and all campus housing is voluntary. The system is financially self-supporting, and no state funds or general student fees are used for construction, maintenance or operations.
University Residences offers a comprehensive package that includes furnished rooms with utilities, telephone service, cable TV and high-speed Internet. Meals are available 18 hours a day.
University Residences hires professional staff members who live in residence halls to provide support to students and their communities. In addition, access to buildings is monitored and security policies are enforced to help ensure student safety.
Trustees also approved room rates at Purdue Calumet and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Rates for both four- and two-bedroom suites at Purdue Calumet will increase 3 percent. The Calumet campus has nearly 750 rooms that offer apartment-style housing accommodations. Board contracts are not provided on campus.
Students at IPFW will see no average increase due to offsetting increases and decreases. Rates will range from a 1.8 percent decrease to a 2.3 percent increase, based on a room's configuration. Approximately 70 percent of the room rates will remain flat from the 2013-14 academic year or be reduced. Board contracts are not provided on campus. Student housing capacity is just over 1,200.
December 16, 2013
News Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Board of Trustees on Saturday (Dec. 14) approved a system-wide collaboration for a doctor of nursing practice program.
Trustees also approved an honors college for Purdue University Calumet and the merger of two engineering technology departments in the College of Technology.
The doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program at Purdue's West Lafayette campus will be delivered to Purdue University Calumet and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said Jane M. Kirkpatrick, associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services and head of Purdue's School of Nursing.
“The program will be delivered primarily online, with limited intensive face-to-face experiences and supervised residency/practical experiences,” she said. “This approach will increase access to the DNP program and provide efficiencies across the Purdue University system.”
Kirkpatrick said the DNP is a practice, as opposed to a research, doctorate. The DNP is similar to practice doctorates common in other disciplines such as pharmacy and audiology.
She said that demand for nurses with professional doctorates in both academia and health care institutions is high and growing.
“Expanding Purdue's role in delivering DNP education fulfills a local, state and national need for nurses prepared to transform health care,” she said. “DNP graduates assume leadership positions in health care and education.”
The DNP program, which is expected to begin in spring 2015, is subject to approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The program includes a plan for Purdue North Central to participate in five to seven years.
Purdue Calumet Chancellor Thomas Keon said the goal of the honors college is to improve the honors program that has existed at Purdue Calumet for several years.
“We would like to enhance the honors program to match our strategy to attract and retain high-quality students,” he said. “Through special learning communities, the honors college will foster academic excellence, critical thinking, vital leadership skills, social and civic responsibility, and other virtues required of outstanding citizens and leaders.”
Keon said the honors college would have a traditional four-year program for students who are incoming freshmen and a program of four to six semesters for students already enrolled who, in their first semesters of college coursework, have demonstrated strong academic ability. It also would be available for students transferring to Purdue Calumet who plan to complete no fewer than four semesters at the university prior to graduation.
The full enrollment goal for the honors college, which will not begin until at least fall 2014, would be approximately 400 students, Keon said.
Trustees also approved merging the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology into the School of Engineering Technology.
The merger will result in administrative and curriculum efficiencies, said Gary Bertoline, dean of the College of Technology on the West Lafayette campus.
“We will be able to provide degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels that have significant research and funding opportunities as well as strong interest from business and industry,” Bertoline said. “The change also will create new learning, discovery and engagement opportunities for our students and faculty, and better serve the state's needs.”
Bertoline said the new school – with more than 1,000 students, 50-plus faculty and four undergraduate programs at six locations – will be one of the largest engineering technology units in the United States.
Source: Purdue University