Purdue University Named Most Recognized Public College in America

When I saw there was a list of the "most recognized" universities in America, I thought it was referring to schools that have received the most recognition (awards, honors, etc.). The list is actually for the schools that are literally the most recognized - as in, "Hey, I recognize you." And how cool is it that a school from Indiana is right there near the top of the list?

If you assumed the most recognized school in Indiana was the old Crimson and Cream of Indiana University, you'd be wrong. In fact, IU was much further down the rankings. To find Indiana's most recognized college, you'll need to head north from Bloomington for a couple of hours to Lafayette, the home of Purdue University.

Getty Images

Here's how the firm American Caldwell conducted it's "Global University Visibility" study...

To rank these universities by global brand visibility, the researchers evaluated numerous data points across several key categories to determine the most visible university brands.

16 Indiana Towns with Dirty-Sounding Names

A majority of these towns were given their names in the mid-to-late 1800s as settlers making their way across the country found unclaimed plots of land and decided to make them their own. While I imagine they thought the names they came up with were innocent, and perhaps a tribute to something in their lives, pop culture has warped our minds to the point since then that we can't help but think of something about the town that was never intended by its founders. Take a look at this list. I guarantee there's at least one name that will make you chuckle.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan

LOOK: Here's Why Indiana is Pretty Much the Best Place on Earth [As Told by Hoosiers]

Reddit user, u/youcanneverbanme recently asked their fellow Hoosiers in the Indiana subreddit what they liked about living here. The question received hundreds of responses and the vast majority of them were positive. Of course, there were some that were negative because there are sad people who are perpetually angry on the internet and want everyone to know it for some reason, but we won't concern ourselves with those. We want to focus on the good, and when it comes to the good, there's plenty of it to enjoy.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan