Duke University: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Chapel Hill, North Carolina · Public · Highly selective · CDS 2024-2025
Duke University is a public university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that admits about 19% of applicants, making it a highly selective school. The average family pays about $12,983 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Communication and Media Studies, Biology, General and Behavioral Sciences, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. About 91% of students graduate within six years. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 4.8 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Duke University is a public institution located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and one of the highly selective schools in the country. For the most recent reporting cycle, Duke University admits roughly one in four applicants, with an overall admission rate of 19%. Admitted students typically post an average SAT of 1454 and an ACT composite around 25. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $12,983 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Duke University is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What parents should know about Duke University right now
Duke University remains highly selective. For the Class of 2028, Duke admitted roughly 5.1 percent of nearly 55,000 applicants, with a 59.4 percent yield rate and middle-50 percent SAT scores of 1520 to 1570. Duke is need-blind for domestic applicants and meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need without packaging loans, with about half of undergraduates receiving some form of aid. The most concrete recent change for parents is the Duke Initiative for Students from the Carolinas, which provides full tuition grants to admitted undergraduates from North Carolina and South Carolina whose families fall under set income thresholds; Duke also reports that roughly 21 percent of a recent first-year class attended tuition-free. Distinctive programs include the Pratt School of Engineering, where over 60 percent of undergraduates do funded research and 85 percent report job offers at graduation, the Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke Kunshan University in China, which offers 15 interdisciplinary majors. Duke also houses the country's first Physician Assistant degree program. Recent capital projects include the Wilkinson Building for engineering and interdisciplinary research, opened in early 2021. About 22 percent of first-year students have a Duke alum in the immediate family, a fact families weighing legacy considerations may want to factor into expectations.
What GPA does my child need for Duke University?
Most admitted students at Duke University present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
What does Duke University weight in admissions?
Duke University reports the following factor importance in its Common Data Set (2024-2025). These are the criteria the admissions committee weighs when reviewing applications.
- • Rigor of secondary school record
- • Class rank
- • Academic GPA
- • Application essay
- • Recommendations
- • Extracurricular activities
- • Talent/ability
- • Character/personal qualities
- • State residency
- • Volunteer work
- • Work experience
- • Standardized test scores
- • First generation status
- • Alumni/ae relation
- • Interview
- • Geographical residence
- • Religious affiliation/commitment
- • Level of applicant's interest
SAT and ACT scores Duke University typically admits
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 690–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 625. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 30–34. Scores below the 25th-percentile mark are accepted occasionally, but the realistic submission target for most families is the school's middle-50 floor or higher.
| 25th percentile | 1400 |
| 50th percentile | 1470 |
| 75th percentile | 1530 |
| % submitting SAT | 28% |
| 25th percentile | 28 |
| 50th percentile | 31 |
| 75th percentile | 34 |
| % submitting ACT | 41% |
- • Test-optional: Standardized test scores are not required, but may be submitted and considered.
- • Policy detail: Considered if submitted
Where admitted students ranked in their high school class
Class rank distribution gives parents a clear sense of how academically dominant a typical admitted student was within their own high school cohort — often a more meaningful signal than absolute GPA.
| Top 10% of class | 77% |
| Top 25% of class | 97% |
| Top 50% of class | 100% |
| % submitting class rank | 69% |
How much does Duke University actually cost?
Published tuition is $8,989 for in-state students and $39,330 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $13,016 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $12,983 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 20% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
| In-state tuition | $7,020 |
| Out-of-state tuition | $43,152 |
| Room and board | $15,038 |
| Average net price (after aid) | $12,983 |
| Application fee | $85 (waivers available) |
Application deadlines and early decision data for Duke University
| Regular deadline | Jan. 15 |
| Notification date | Jan. 31 for early action; Mar. 31 for regular |
| Reply deadline | May 1 |
| Offers Early Action | Yes |
Will my child graduate from Duke University?
Retention and graduation rates are the most overlooked numbers in college planning, but they predict actual outcomes far better than acceptance rate. They tell you whether admitted students stay and finish on time.
Most popular majors at Duke University
The most popular undergraduate programs at Duke University, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Communication and Media Studies, Biology, General and Behavioral Sciences. Across all programs, Duke University confers roughly 3,493 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its Communication and Media Studies program report a median income of about $67,532 five years after entering college. Major popularity is a practical signal of where a school concentrates its teaching strength and where your child will find the deepest course offerings and peer community.
| Major | Graduates / year | Median earnings (5 yrs out) |
|---|---|---|
| Communication and Media Studies | 560 | $67,532 |
| Biology, General | 558 | $64,430 |
| Behavioral Sciences | 490 | — |
| Economics | 449 | $96,785 |
| Computer Science | 432 | $124,977 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness | 346 | $58,954 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 332 | $125,645 |
| Political Science and Government | 326 | $71,082 |
Is Duke University safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Duke University disclosed 100 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 4.8 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 9 violent offenses and 25 reported sexual assaults or VAWA offenses. Per-1,000-student rates matter more than raw counts when comparing schools, because larger universities mechanically report more incidents. Under the federal Clery Act, every college that receives federal aid must publish these numbers annually.
What is campus life like at Duke University?
About 43% of undergraduates at Duke University live in campus housing, so a meaningful share of students commute or live off campus. In Greek life, 7% of men join a fraternity and 12% of women join a sorority. Residential rate and Greek participation shape day-to-day social life and are worth weighing alongside academics and cost.
Other colleges in North Carolina parents ask about
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill40% acceptance
- Wake Forest University88% acceptance
- North Carolina State University at Raleigh29% acceptance
- Appalachian State University7% acceptance
- East Carolina University94% acceptance
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte74% acceptance
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro80% acceptance
- Davidson College64% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Duke University
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Duke University recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Duke University
What GPA do I need for Duke University?
Most admitted students at Duke University present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school.
What SAT or ACT score does Duke University typically admit?
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 690–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 625. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 30–34.
How much does Duke University actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Duke University after grants and scholarships is $12,983 per year. That figure is more useful for budgeting than the published sticker price, because it reflects what families actually pay after aid is applied.
Is Duke University realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Duke University is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
What is the acceptance rate at Duke University?
Duke University accepts about 19% of applicants out of roughly 66,535 who apply each year. That makes it a highly selective school.
Is Duke University test-optional?
Yes. Duke University is test-optional, so SAT and ACT scores are not required, but strong scores can still be submitted and will be considered.
What is the graduation rate at Duke University?
About 91% of students at Duke University graduate within six years, and 84% finish in four years. 97% of freshmen return for sophomore year. Graduation rate predicts real outcomes better than acceptance rate.
What does Duke University look for in applicants?
Duke University rates course rigor as "very important" in its Common Data Set. These are the factors the admissions committee weighs most heavily when reviewing an application.
Is Duke University a public or private school, and where is it located?
Duke University is a public institution located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
What are the most popular majors at Duke University?
The largest undergraduate majors at Duke University by annual graduates are Communication and Media Studies, Biology, General and Behavioral Sciences. The school awards about 3,493 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Duke University safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Duke University reported 100 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 4.8 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
What is campus life like at Duke University?
At Duke University, 43% of undergraduates live on campus, 7% of men are in fraternities, 12% of women are in sororities, according to its most recent Common Data Set.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Duke University, the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS, and Clery Act campus safety disclosures. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.