Duke Common Data Set 2025-2026

Duke has released its Common Data Set for 2025-2026, which gives applicants one of the clearest available looks at Duke’s admissions process, academic profile, cost, financial aid, and undergraduate experience. Below is what the latest data reveals about Duke’s selectivity, how Duke weighs different parts of the application, what test-optional means in practice, and how students should approach the 2026-2027 admissions cycle.

A Sharper Look at Selectivity

Duke remains one of the most selective universities in the country. For the class that entered in Fall 2025:

• Applications received: 55,541

• Students admitted: 2,910

• Students enrolled: 1,749

• Acceptance rate: roughly 5.2 percent

• Yield rate: roughly 60.1 percent

That means only about five applicants in a hundred received an offer of admission. Duke is not quite as statistically extreme as the most selective Ivy League schools, but it is still operating in the same admissions universe: most academically qualified applicants are denied.

Duke also reports that it maintains a waitlist, but it does not report how many applicants were offered a place, how many accepted a spot, or how many were admitted from the waitlist. That missing data matters. Since the Common Data Set does not give a waitlist admit number, applicants should not treat the waitlist as a meaningful backup plan.

The Academic Profile of Enrolled Students

Among enrolled students who submitted scores, Duke’s newest class had extremely high test results:

• SAT composite: 1510 to 1570, median 1550

• SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 740 to 780, median 760

• SAT Math: 770 to 790, median 790

• ACT composite: 34 to 35, median 35

• ACT Math: 33 to 35, median 35

• ACT English: 35 to 36, median 36

• Submitted an SAT: 48 percent

• Submitted an ACT: 27 percent

Duke does not report high school GPA ranges or class rank distribution in this year’s Common Data Set. That makes the test-score profile one of the clearest numerical windows into the academic strength of the enrolled class.

The score distribution is just as telling. Among students who submitted SAT scores, 96.3 percent had a composite score between 1400 and 1600. Among students who submitted ACT scores, 98.3 percent had a composite score between 30 and 36.

At Duke, a strong score does not make an applicant exceptional by itself. It simply places the applicant in the academic range where the rest of the application can be taken seriously.

Duke Is Test-Optional, but Scores Still Matter

Duke states that it will be test-optional for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle. The Common Data Set says SAT or ACT scores are not required for admission, but they are considered if submitted.

That distinction is important. Duke does not rate standardized test scores as one of its top admissions factors. In its factor ratings, Duke lists test scores as considered, while placing rigor, GPA, recommendations, extracurriculars, talent, and character in the highest tier.

The practical strategy is clear:

• If your SAT or ACT score is strong relative to Duke’s enrolled-student range, submitting it can strengthen your academic case.

• If your score is meaningfully below Duke’s range, the optional policy exists for a reason.

• If you apply without scores, the rest of your academic record has to work harder. Course rigor, grades, recommendations, and evidence of intellectual seriousness become even more important.

Duke’s test-optional policy does not mean tests are irrelevant. It means the score is one piece of evidence, and applicants should decide whether that evidence helps or hurts.

Who Makes Up the First-Year Class

Duke’s entering class is geographically broad and academically elite. The Common Data Set reports that 84 percent of first-year students are from out of state, excluding international students from that calculation. Every first-year student lives in college-owned, operated, or affiliated housing.

By share of the Fall 2025 first-year class:

• White: 32.8 percent

• Asian: 25.1 percent

• Hispanic or Latino: 11.3 percent

• International or nonresident: 11.0 percent

• Race or ethnicity unknown: 7.5 percent

• Black or African American: 6.5 percent

• Two or more races: 5.8 percent

• American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.1 percent

• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 0 percent reported among first-time first-year students

As with all Common Data Set reporting, international students are counted separately as nonresidents rather than included within the domestic racial and ethnic categories.

How Duke Weighs Each Part of Your Application

The Common Data Set asks colleges to rate the relative importance of each admissions factor. Duke’s responses are especially useful because they show exactly where applicants should put their energy.

Rated Very Important:

• Rigor of secondary school record

• Academic GPA

• Recommendations

• Extracurricular activities

• Talent or ability

• Character and personal qualities

Rated Important:

• Class rank

• Application essay

Rated Considered:

• Standardized test scores

• Interview

• First-generation status

• Alumni relation

• Geographic residence

• State residency

• Volunteer work

• Work experience

• Level of applicant’s interest

Rated Not Considered:

• Religious affiliation or commitment

The most important pattern is that Duke is not building its class from numbers alone. Yes, rigor and GPA are in the top tier, but so are recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent, and character. That means Duke is explicitly looking for students who have done more than earn excellent grades.

The second important pattern is that demonstrated interest is considered. That does not mean clicking every email will get someone admitted, but it does mean applicants should not ignore Duke until the moment they submit the application.

What the Top Factors Actually Mean

The six Very Important factors are where Duke applications are won or lost.

Rigor of secondary school record. Duke wants to see that you took the most demanding courses available to you. This does not mean every student must have the same transcript, because Duke reads students in the context of their school. It does mean that if your school offered AP, IB, honors, dual enrollment, or advanced electives, Duke will notice whether you challenged yourself.

Academic GPA. Grades show whether you sustained a high level of performance across years of coursework. At Duke’s level, strong grades are not a bonus. They are the foundation that allows the rest of the application to matter.

Recommendations. Duke places recommendations in its highest tier, which means teacher and counselor letters can carry real weight. Generic praise is not enough. The strongest letters show how a student thinks, contributes, leads, collaborates, and handles difficulty.

Extracurricular activities. Duke is looking for depth, impact, and initiative. A long list of clubs is less valuable than a smaller number of serious commitments where the student actually built something, solved something, led something, or became unusually good at something.

Talent or ability. This is where a student’s distinctive strength matters. That talent could appear in research, engineering, writing, music, debate, entrepreneurship, athletics, community work, or another area. What matters is that the ability is demonstrated, not merely claimed.

Character and personal qualities. Duke wants students who will add to its community. Character is not separate from the rest of the application. It shows up in recommendations, essays, activities, leadership, service, and the way a student responds to challenges.

How to Handle Demonstrated Interest

Unlike some peer universities, Duke reports that an applicant’s level of interest is considered. That should shape your behavior before and during the application process.

A few low-risk steps are worth taking, using the same email address that will appear on your application:

• Join Duke’s admissions mailing list.

• Attend a virtual information session or local admissions event.

• Visit campus if it is realistic for your family.

• Open Duke admissions emails and engage with material that is genuinely relevant.

• Research specific programs, professors, labs, communities, and opportunities before writing your essays.

• If you communicate with Duke, make sure your questions are thoughtful and not easily answered by a five-second search.

The main benefit is not just that Duke may notice your interest. The bigger benefit is that learning Duke well makes your application better. Your essays, activity descriptions, and interview responses become more specific when you understand the school deeply.

What This Means If You Are Applying

The Duke application should be built around six priorities.

First, take the hardest curriculum you can reasonably handle and earn excellent grades. Second, cultivate relationships with teachers who can write detailed, specific letters. Third, build extracurricular depth rather than collecting activities. Fourth, develop a clear area of talent or ability that gives Duke a reason to remember you. Fifth, use the essays to reveal judgment, voice, motivation, and maturity. Sixth, show real interest in Duke before you apply.

Duke’s Common Data Set makes one thing clear: this is not an application process where statistics alone carry the day. Academic strength gets you into the conversation, but recommendations, activities, talent, and character determine whether your file actually stands out.

The Cost, and Why the Sticker Price Is Not the Whole Story

Duke’s published 2026-2027 cost is high:

• Tuition: $73,740

• Required fees: $2,635

• Food and housing on campus: $20,222

• Books and supplies: $536

• Transportation: $778

• Other expenses: $1,637

• Estimated total cost of attendance: about $99,548

That sticker price is not what every family pays. Duke reports that it meets 100 percent of demonstrated need for students who receive need-based aid.

For first-time, full-time first-year students receiving need-based aid:

• Average financial aid package: $83,513

• Average need-based scholarship or grant: $76,455

• Average need-based self-help award: $7,433

• Average need-based loan: $4,310

Duke also reports institutional financial aid for undergraduate nonresidents. In the reported year, 215 undergraduate degree-seeking nonresidents received institutional aid, with an average award of $87,841.

The borrowing data is worth noting. Among 1,783 students in the 2025 undergraduate class who started at Duke as first-time students and graduated with a bachelor’s degree, 409 borrowed from some loan source. That is 22.9 percent of the class, with an average cumulative borrowed amount of $26,395 among borrowers.

Duke is expensive, but its financial aid can be very generous. Families should not judge affordability from the sticker price alone. They should run the net price calculator before deciding whether Duke is financially realistic.

Life and Outcomes Once You Arrive

The data also gives a picture of what happens after students enroll:

• First-year retention rate: 97 percent

• Six-year graduation rate: 96.1 percent for the Fall 2019 cohort

• Student-to-faculty ratio: 7 to 1

• First-year students living in college-owned, operated, or affiliated housing: 100 percent

• Undergraduates living in college-owned, operated, or affiliated housing: 85 percent

• Undergraduate class sections with fewer than 20 students: about 71 percent

• Undergraduate class sections with fewer than 30 students: about 82 percent

Those numbers point to a university with a strong residential culture, high persistence, small class access in many courses, and excellent graduation outcomes.

Duke also reports extensive academic opportunities, including double majors, independent study, internships, student-designed majors, study abroad, teacher certification, and undergraduate research. For ambitious students, the key is not simply getting into Duke. It is arriving ready to take advantage of the university’s resources.

Deadlines and the Early Option

Duke offers binding Early Decision, but not Early Action.

Key dates from the Common Data Set:

• Early Decision deadline: November 1

• Early Decision notification date: December 15

• Regular Decision deadline: January 2

• Regular Decision notification: by April 1

• Reply deadline for admitted students: May 1

• Application fee: $85, with fee waivers available for students with financial need

Duke reports that it offers Early Decision, but the Common Data Set does not provide the number of Early Decision applications received or the number admitted under the plan. That means you should not use this document to calculate a Duke Early Decision admit rate.

Still, the strategic logic is clear. Early Decision can make sense if Duke is truly your first choice, your application is ready by November, and your family has a realistic understanding of the financial commitment. Because Early Decision is binding, it should not be used casually.

If you are preparing a Duke application for the 2026-2027 cycle and want experienced guidance on the pieces that actually move the needle, schedule a consultation with a T10 admissions expert today.