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Purdue University’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) undergraduate program is ranked No. 1 in its category in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report undergraduate program rankings, released on Monday, Sept. 18.
“It’s always a good day when you’re number one,” says Dr. Bernie Engel, Dean of Purdue’s College of Agriculture.
The ranking marks the 13th consecutive year the program has earned a spot in the top two.
“I believe in the first or second year that we were ranked number one, I had someone tell me, ‘You know, there’s only one place you can go when you’re number one.’ I quickly responded, ‘Absolutely, and that’s to stay number one.’ So, I think this is a program that has demonstrated an ability to do that. Certainly, one’s not going to rest on their laurels,” said Engel.
Dr. Nate Mosier, the Indiana Soybean Alliance Soybean Utilized Endowed Chair for Purdue’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering program, as well as his faculty and staff, get a lot of credit for reaching the top ranking once again.
“Maybe some know that the department now has a new building,” says Engel. “Sort of the running joke leading up to this was, ‘Will they continue to be number one when they all have to live together?’ Nate and the group have absolutely proven that that is not only a possibility, but that’s reality here over the last several years.”
Engel strongly encourages high school students who are interested in a career in ag sciences to check out Purdue’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering program for themselves.
“If you have an interest in agriculture, biological sciences—and that’s complemented with an interest in science and math—then what a phenomenal opportunity this program can provide,” says Engel. “It really hits those combinations of agriculture and science to really position you to be on the cutting edge of driving technology and helping make sure it gets adopted. Certainly, that is a career opportunity that is going to be phenomenal.”
ABE’s key areas of research align with the department’s degree programs: agricultural systems management; biological and bioprocess engineering; data science and digital applications; environmental and natural resource engineering; and machine systems engineering.
Last year the 32 members of ABE’s faculty garnered 82 awards for research, totaling $15.4 million. ABE’s 378 undergraduate students represent 64 counties in Indiana, 29 states and 11 countries. Over 95% of last year’s graduates either accepted a full-time position or are continuing their education after graduation.
