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Admissions & selectivity

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# Duke University Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

[Overview](/school/duke-university/)[Cost & aid](/school/duke-university/cost/)[Outcomes](/school/duke-university/outcomes/)Admissions[Majors](/school/duke-university/majors/)[Similar schools](/school/duke-university/similar/)

**On this page**+

## What is the acceptance rate at Duke University?

Duke University’s reported acceptance rate is 5.7%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
5.7%

Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.

First-year applicants and admitted students · CDS 2024-25

**Applicants**
51,795

**Admitted**
2,957

Source: Duke University Common Data Set 2024-25, C1 · first-time, first-year students.

How to interpret the acceptance rate

Duke University admitted 5.7% of applicants in the most recent cycle, a figure that sits well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 51,795 applicants and 2,957 admitted students.

## What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Duke University students report?

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the middle 50% of enrolled students who submitted ACT scores ranged from 34 to 35, with 30% of the entering class providing scores. For the SAT, the middle 50% of submitted scores ranged from 1,500 to 1,570.

Among first-year students with a reported class rank, 92% placed in the highest tenth of their high school class and 98% in the highest quarter. Applicants whose scores or class standing fall near the 25th percentile figures should understand those marks describe the lower edge of the middle half of enrolled students, not a floor.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Duke University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.

**30% of entering students submitted ACT scores**

ACT: reported composite scores

**25th percentile**
34

**Median**
35

**75th percentile**
35

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Source: Duke University Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.

## Who enrolls at Duke University?

**Pell Grant recipients**
14.0%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
2.9%

**First-year retention**
97.9%

Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.

About these student measures

The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.

Duke University enrolls 6,442 undergraduates, with Pell Grant recipients making up 14.0% of the student body. An estimated 2.9% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 2,285 transfer applicants, 92 admitted, and 52 enrolled. These figures suggest a student body built primarily through a first-year admission process that admits a small fraction of applicants, with limited transfer pathways.

Pell-eligible applicants should prepare for a financial aid process that operates within a community where they will be a small minority.

For the first-time full-time cohort entering Duke University, the first-year retention rate is 97.9% and the [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) is 96.8%. Both outcomes exceed the peer medians for comparable institutions, which stand at 83.4% for first-year retention and 68.8% for six-year completion.

The six-year completion rate for Pell Grant recipients is 91.4%, a figure 5.4 percentage points below the overall rate of 96.8%. Enrolled students can expect a university where first-year persistence and six-year completion outcomes both rank well above the medians typically observed among comparable institutions.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), founder of College Azimuth.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. [About College Azimuth](/about/).