Purdue Chemistry (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Chemistry
- Public university
- West Lafayette, IN
- About 65 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Purdue chemistry graduates earn more than graduates of most chemistry programs nationally, $47,213 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $19,500 in federal loans, less than at 77% of chemistry programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying chemistry degrees in Indiana.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Indiana and national columns are the medians across all chemistry bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Purdue graduates earn less than the national figure and about $8,180 less than the Indiana median. Several Indiana programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Indiana chemistry program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Indiana medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 27% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $2,336 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $207 a month, or 5.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
59% of graduates (33 of 56) were working in Indiana one year after graduating. Prices in the Lafayette area are about 7% below the national average, so a $47,213 salary here buys what about $50,533 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to chemistry, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$61,880Median pay in Indiana. 20,430 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Data Scientists
$91,470Median pay in Indiana. 3,580 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Natural Sciences Managers
$108,250Median pay in Indiana. 1,670 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
$64,700Median pay in Indiana. 1,290 people work in this job in Indiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Purdue
Chemistry ranks 40th of 70 bachelor's programs at Purdue by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($94,786), Computer Engineering ($89,965), and Electrical Engineering ($84,300).
Other chemistry bachelor's programs near West Lafayette
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,213 one year after graduating and $59,928 five years after. The median across chemistry bachelor's programs in Indiana is $42,580.
The median federal loan balance is $19,500, which ranks 2nd lowest of 6 chemistry bachelor's programs in Indiana. That works out to about $207 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 41% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%.
Most do. 59% (33 of 56) were working in Indiana one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Indiana comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the chemistry program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024