Professional Practice

Through internships and professional practice (also known as cooperative education) Purdue students gain professional experience to complement their education. In fact, in 2009, U.S.News & World Report listed Purdue among the universities it recognizes for having outstanding internship and co-op programs. The result is graduates who are in great demand. Each year approximately 90 percent of Purdue’s May graduates have reported they are either employed, continuing their education, or have other confirmed plans (such as Teach for America) within six months of graduation. 

Employers know Purdue graduates are prepared to make immediate contributions to their organizations, and even when companies are scaling back recruitment on college campuses, Purdue typically isn’t one of their sacrifices.

Extracurricular Advantage
With two Purdue degrees in computer graphics technology, Matt Brisbin now works as a department technical director at DreamWorks. “Throughout my time at Purdue,” he says, “I took an interest in every extracurricular computer graphics project that came my way, which was probably the largest factor in landing the job I have today.” While Brisbin has yet to work with anyone famous, he jokes that he did share an elevator ride with Ben Stiller recently for “an entire three floors.”