Duke University

Location and Contact Information

103 Allen Bldg
Durham, NC 27708
USA
Main Tel: (919) 684-2813
Web Site

The campus is in a medium-sized city.

Overview

Duke University is a private, research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It was originally founded as a private subscription school in 1838. After a few name changes, it was finally named Duke University after Mr. Washington Duke, a powerful and respected Methodist. The campus of Duke University comprises over 200 buildings spread across an area of 9,350 acres. It is organized into the following academic divisions:

  • Divinity School
  • Fuqua School of Business
  • Nicholas School of the Environment
  • Pratt School of Engineering
  • School of Law
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • The Graduate School
  • Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Duke University was ranked as the thirteenth best university in the world in the 2008 THES - QS World University Rankings of universities worldwide. The student body includes over 40% racial or ethnic minorities, representing all 50 U.S. states and over 100 countries. There are several fraternities and sororities on campus and they consist of more than 25% men students and over 40% women students. They are governed by the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Association, and National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

  • United Methodist religious affiliation.
  • Many students concentrating in religion and philosophy, law, engineering, conservation and resource management, and mathematics.
  • High faculty salary.
  • High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
  • High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
  • Large number of programs of study offered.
  • Selective admissions.
  • Large number of students.
  • Good faculty-to-student ratio.
  • Unusually high availability of athletic financial aid.
  • Number of dorm rooms for students.
  • High male/female ratio.

School characteristics:

  • The school is private, not-for-profit.
  • Academic calender: Semester.
  • Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

  • The school offers a faculty tenure system.
  • There is a hospital on campus.
  • There are one or more libraries on-campus.
  • Campus housing is available.
  • Students may study abroad.
  • Distance learning is available.
  • Part-time classes are available.
  • ROTC.
  • Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Duke:

Click a column header to sort.

 SchoolLocationEnrollment
1Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, TN12,093
2Washington University in St LouisSaint Louis, MO13,339
3Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY20,273
4Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA10,875
5University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN11,731
6Stanford UniversityStanford, CA17,833
7Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, OH9,814
8Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH5,848
9Princeton UniversityPrinceton, NJ7,330
10Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, MA10,299

Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

DegreeTotal
Earned
Different
Programs
Bachelor1,62537
Master1,55540
First-professional degree5083
Doctorate33331
Postbaccalaureate certificate252

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Full-Time Faculty  Total
With tenure  1,187
Without tenure; working toward tenure  524
Without tenure; tenure not available  1,687

Students

Student enrollment was 14,060 in 2009-2010 (14,839 full-time equivalent).

About 51% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 49% of the class.

Undergrads are 47% of enrolled students, graduate students are 41%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 12%.

Students under 25 years old represent 62% of the student body. About 3% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

ApplicantsAdmitted
Men23%
Women22%
All22%

SAT Test Scores:

SATMiddle 50%
Verbal660-760
Math680-780
Writing660-760

Room and Board

Duke provides on-campus housing for 5,515 of its 14,839 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Atlantic Coast Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 175 male students received the aid (men were 56% of those receiving aid) and 136 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 44% of students receiving such aid) .

International Study

About 7% of freshmen are from countries other than the US.

The school recommends that international applicants take the TOEFL exam.

Graduate School Focus

Duke offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (780 awarded)

  • Business Administration and Management

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (44 awarded)

  • Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (122 awarded)

  • Forestry
  • Natural Resources Management and Policy
  • Natural Resources/Conservation

DESIGN (2 awarded)

  • Design and Visual Communications

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (9 awarded)

  • Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

ENGINEERING (533 awarded)

  • Biomedical/Medical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
  • Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (190 awarded)

  • Public Policy Analysis

FINE ARTS (33 awarded)

  • Art History, Criticism and Conservation

LAW (280 awarded)

  • Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS (809 awarded)

  • African-American/Black Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Area Studies
  • Economics
  • English Language and Literature
  • English Language and Literature/Letters
  • Foreign Languages and Literatures
  • French Language and Literature
  • German Language and Literature
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Medieval and Renaissance Studies
  • Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
  • Political Science and Government
  • Romanian Language and Literature
  • Russian Language and Literature
  • Sociology
  • Spanish Language and Literature
  • Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (68 awarded)

  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (23 awarded)

  • Ophthalmic Technician/Technologist
  • Radiation Protection/Health Physics Technician

MEDICINE (105 awarded)

  • Medicine (MD)

MUSIC (22 awarded)

  • Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (222 awarded)

  • Nurse Anesthetist
  • Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (228 awarded)

  • Divinity/Ministry (BD, MDiv)
  • Philosophy
  • Religion/Religious Studies
  • Theology/Theological Studies

SCIENCE (316 awarded)

  • Biochemistry
  • Biology/Biological Sciences
  • Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences
  • Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology
  • Chemistry
  • Geology/Earth Science
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Physics
  • Zoology/Animal Biology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (260 awarded)

  • Physical Therapy/Therapist
  • Psychology


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