Purdue to Build New Business School Facility

• Purdue trustees approved $168 million for a new business school facility project.
• The $168 million price tag includes $125 million for the new building and $43 million for other costs.
• The 164,000-square-foot building is projected to open in 2027.
• The approval caps off a transformative year for the rapidly growing Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.

Purdue University's Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business is getting a new "student-centered" building after the university's trustees signed off on $168 million in construction and renovation costs.

The 164,000-square-foot building, with five floors above ground and one floor below, will feature labs for financial trading, experiential learning, and data visualization, according to a Purdue press release.

The $168 million price tag includes $125 million for the new building and $43 million for other expenses, like new classrooms, demolition and land costs, and renovations to the business school's existing Krannert Building.

The project will be funded through gift funds and is set to be finished in 2027, according to the school release.

"It is a student-centered building," Daniels School Dean Jim Bullard, who joined the university after a lengthy tenure with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said in the release. "It will provide learning environments and study spaces at the cutting edge of business school facilities. There will be space for research centers and partnership opportunities with practitioners, as well as student advising areas."

The building will feature three major classrooms, with one accommodating up to 500 students and two more accommodating 250 students each.

"Our large classroom spaces will accommodate not only business school students, but those from other schools and units on campus," Bullard said.

The new facility means that the Daniels School will have three buildings at its disposal, with the existing Krannert Building and Jerry S. Rawls Hall set to be connected both above and below ground to the new construction.

The construction approval caps off a massive 2023 for Purdue's business school. Bullard, a nationally renowned economist who was the longest-serving sitting president of Federal Reserve Banks at the time, joined the school earlier this year as the university worked to revamp its business program.

Purdue last February announced it would rename the business school after Daniels, the former governor of Indiana and later Purdue University president. The school also received a $50 million gift earlier this year to bolster its undergraduate business program with a revised curriculum.

School officials expect rapid growth at the Daniels School, with 4,000 students expected in fall 2024 — an increase of more than 1,600 from five years ago, according to the release.