Duke University: Class of 2028 Acceptance Rate

Duke University is a private university located in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the top-ranked private research universities in the United States, ranked #7 (tied with CalTech) in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report. Home to the legendary Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke’s Blue Devils foster infectious school spirit and a tight-knit community. Duke’s undergraduate population of around 6,500 enjoys a 5:1 student to faculty ratio with over 70 percent of classes having fewer than 20 students.

Renowned for its rigorous academics, Duke offers a diverse range of programs spanning the arts and sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Duke also offers a number of unique opportunities for undergraduate students including the relatively new Duke Gap Year Program, which offers admitted students between $5,000 and $15,000 to facilitate their gap year, depending on their plans and financial need. Students can also engage in international learning through nearly 50 Duke-administered summer & semester abroad programs.

DUKE UNIVERSITY: ACCEPTANCE RATE

Duke University’s overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was 5.1% — marking a record low for the increasingly competitive university. Duke accepted a total of 2,790 students from a pool of 54,191 applicants.

Duke’s RD acceptance rate hit another record-low, just 4.1% of applicants were accepted. Of those admitted during Regular Decision, 1,592 were accepted into its liberal arts division, Trinity College, while the other 392 were admitted to the Pratt School of Engineering, a Top 20 Engineering school.

Duke received a record high 6,240 Early Decision applications, which represents a 28% increase from last year. The university accepted 806 students ED for an acceptance rate of 12.9% — over a 3% decrease from last year’s 16.5%.

“In general, this cycle was both challenging and exciting,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag said. “It was a year of multiple changes, and we were motivated to build on the success we had last year in attracting and admitting a higher percentage of students eligible for Pell grants.”

Set your child up for college admissions success today

Schedule A Consultation

Get Our Brochure

DUKE UNIVERSITY: ADMISSIONS UPDATES

In June 2023, Duke University announced that it was expanding its efforts to make higher education accessible by providing free tuition to students from North Carolina and South Carolina whose families earn less than $150,000 per year. The new grants took effect in the Fall 2023 semester and also benefited all eligible current students.

This new initiative is almost certainly contributing to Duke’s soaring ED application numbers.

“We want to make it easier for families to choose Duke,” Dean of Trinity College Gary Bennett said in the press release. “Attending college can expand a family’s opportunities for generations, and we aim to make the Duke experience as widely accessible as we can.”

While Ivy League institutions such as Dartmouth College, Yale University, Brown University, Harvard University and Cornell University announced a return to requiring SAT or ACT scores, Duke remains test optional.

In a major shift, Duke is no longer giving essays and standardized testing scores numerical ratings in the undergraduate admissions process, according to The Duke Chronicle.

In previous years, Duke would assign numerical ratings from one to five in six different categories: curriculum strength, academics, recommendations, essays, extracurriculars and test scores, for a total score out of 30. While no longer numerically quantified, essays remain an essential element of Duke’s holistic review process.

While Duke was one of the 12 universities that participated in a research study conducted by Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights team, whose data many institutions cited when announcing a return to standardized testing requirements, Duke has yet to announce any changes regarding its test-optional policy.

This cycle, Duke will still take into account standardized test scores when submitted, including AP and IB scores. The average SAT composite score for applicants to Duke was 1490-1560 according to Duke’s 2021-2022 data.

TTA Takeaway: We encourage students interested in Duke to prepare for and take standardized tests due to the apparent fickleness of selective institutions when it comes to standardized testing policies. With application numbers rising, strong test scores can help to set apart talented applicants.

At Top Tier Admissions, we are committed to making the college admissions process more transparent. Easy access to clear data helps families understand trends in college admissions to make more informed decisions. We’re collecting acceptance rate data at selective schools and providing insight and analysis of our own. For historical data, see our collection of Ivy League and Top College Acceptance Rates and Admissions Statistics, including the Class of 2028 Ivy League admissions data and admissions stats for a range of additional selective schools.

Want To Read More About Duke University?

If you enjoyed this post, follow us on Instagram @toptieradmissions for more tips and subscribe to our blog for expert insights & college admissions news!

Author
Recent Posts

Siena Swift

Creative Content Coordinator at Top Tier Admissions

Siena is a Pomona College graduate and award-winning student journalist with a passion for impactful communication and global education. After guiding prospective students as a tour guide at Pomona and spearheading sustainability initiatives across the Claremont Colleges, Siena honed her skills in social media strategy and event programming as an admissions office intern. Since graduating, she has worked with Top Tier Admissions, where she now serves as the Creative Content Coordinator. In this role, Siena manages social media strategies, creates engaging content, and supports webinars. Her work combines her love for communication, education, and creativity, all while contributing to the growth and engagement of the Top Tier Admissions community.