Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system, which also includes Purdue University in Indianapolis as an ongoing extension of the West Lafayette campus. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture; the first classes were held on September 16, 1874.
Purdue University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Purdue enrolls the largest student body of any individual university campus in Indiana, as well as the ninth-largest foreign student population of any university in the United States. The university is home to the world's oldest computer science degree-granting department and the first university-owned airport in the United States.