Academics
Duke's student body consists of 6,526 undergraduates and 8,220 graduate and professional students (as of fall 2011). The university has "historic and symbolic ties to the Methodist Church but it always has been independent in its governance." For the undergraduate class of 2015, Duke received 31,600 applications, and accepted 10.8% of them. According to The Huffington Post, Duke ranks among the ten toughest universities in the United States to get into based on admissions data. The yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) is approximately 45%. For the class of 2013, 95% of admitted students ranked in the top 10% of their high school classes. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for first-year students is 660-750 for verbal/critical reading, 690-780 for math, and 670-770 for writing, while the ACT range is 31–34.
| Undergraduate | Graduate | U.S. Census | |
|---|---|---|---|
| African American | 10% | 5% | 12.1% |
| Asian American | 22% | 9% | 4.3% |
| Non-Hispanic White American |
47% | 54% | 68% |
| Hispanic American | 7% | 4% | 14.5% |
| Other/Unknown/ International |
14% | 28% | N/A |
Duke University has two schools for undergraduates: Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering.
From 2001 to 2011, Duke has had the sixth highest number of Fulbright, Rhodes, Truman, and Goldwater scholarships in the nation among private universities. The University practices need-blind admissions and meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated need. About 50 percent of all Duke students receive some form of financial aid, which includes need-based aid, athletic aid, and merit aid. The average need-based grant for the 2010–2011 academic year was nearly $36,000. Roughly 60 merit-based scholarships are also offered, including the Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship, awarded for academic excellence. Other scholarships are geared toward students in North Carolina, African-American students, and high-achieving students requiring financial aid.
Duke's endowment had a market value of $5.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011. The University's special academic facilities include an art museum, several language labs, the Duke Forest, the Duke Herbarium, a lemur center, a phytotron, a free electron laser, a nuclear magnetic resonance machine, a nuclear lab, and a marine lab. Duke is a leading participant in the National Lambda Rail Network and runs a program for gifted children known as the Talent Identification Program.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)