Meet the Class of 2026: All our coverage from this year's first-year survey

This is The Chronicle’s sixth year of surveying the first-year class.

Below are all our articles on the Class of 2026. The Chronicle has also collected coverage on the Class of 2025, Class of 2024, the Class of 2023, the Class of 2022 and the Class of 2021.

This year’s survey team included Digital Strategy Director Nadia Bey, a senior; Managing Editor Katie Tan, a junior; Senior Editor Ayra Charania, a junior; University News Editors Adway Wadekar and Ishani Raha, both sophomores; and senior Sana Pashankar, first-year Pram Koirala, first-year Olivia Kim and first-year Senou Kounouho, all news reporters.

In addition to an article summarizing our methodology and limitations, additional information on our methodology can be found on GitHub.

Survey Results

Methodology and Limitations

Students varied in their paths to Duke. The survey asked the Class of 2026 if they applied Early Decision, whether Duke was their first choice, whether they have legacy status, the type of high school they came from, whether they took a gap year and why they chose Duke.

QuadEx, Experiential Orientation and Greek Life

The Class of 2026 is the first at Duke to experience the full implementation of QuadEx, a new residential life system that looks to transform social life on campus from a “culture of selectivity” to a “culture of belonging,” according to University administrators.

So how does the first class to see QuadEx in action feel about Duke’s new living and learning system?

Campus Resources

This year’s survey asked the Class of 2026 about academic, cultural, health and wellness and mental health resources on campus. For each campus resource, survey respondents could select if they were “aware of” the resource and whether they had “used” the resource.

Lifestyle, Politics and COVID-19 Attitudes

We asked the Class of 2026 to tell us about their beliefs, lifestyle, choices and attitudes towards COVID-19 — from religion to drug use to whether they have sought mental health treatment before.