Purdue’s College of Agriculture rises in national and international rankings

Story by Maureen Manier

March 27, 2023

Purdue University’s College of Agriculture has been recognized as the #3 college of agriculture in North America and #5 in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings.

Inaugurated in 2004, QS World Rankings are one of the world’s most frequented and respected sources of comparative data about universities. In 2022, Purdue Agriculture was identified as #4 in North America, and #8 in the world.

The QS 2023 rankings are based on the analysis of over 15,700 individual academic programs at 1,594 universities in 93 countries and territories using five criteria: academic reputation; employer reputation; research citations per academic paper; the H-index measuring cumulative productivity and impact of authors’ scholarly work; and international research network of sustainable partnerships with other higher education institutions.

Karen Plaut, former dean of the College of Agriculture and Purdue’s current executive vice president of research, paid tribute to the college’s accomplishment.

“The rise in this year’s rankings is a reflection of the continued excellence of the College of Agriculture’s faculty, students and staff,” said Plaut. “Our research community stretches the frontiers of science to address complex challenges in food, life and natural resources, positively impacting our students, communities and the world.”

Purdue Agriculture’s recent research success includes bringing in over $85 million in extramural funding during the last fiscal year. Earlier in 2023, the college received two of seven available USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems grants, totaling $20 million, to conduct research in the areas of digital forestry and aquaponics.

“The college continues to set the right example for Purdue as it draws top-flight researchers here from across the globe and works to maximize their scholarly successes.” said Patrick Wolfe, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity.

Senior associate dean of research and graduate education for agriculture Bernie Engel spoke to
the direct impact of rankings like QS. “Our reputation is not only a point of pride for stakeholders, it’s often critical to their decision to attend our college, hire our graduates, engage with county Extension educators and partner with researchers.”

Interim Dean and Professor of Agricultural Economics Ken Foster expressed gratitude for what the achievement represents. “Purdue’s College of Agriculture received this recognition because of the the hard work and intellectual capabilities of our faculty, staff and students as well as the leadership of our former dean Karen Plaut and her leadership team.”

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