Duke Kunshan University enrolled its largest-ever class this fall during a pivotal period for the school’s future.
DKU welcomed 490 students to its Class of 2028 Friday, nearly 100 more than the previous year. The 349 Chinese and 141 international students were chosen from a pool of nearly 10,000 applicants from 123 countries.
“Duke was established 100 years ago this December. We cannot be more excited to see how you will help shape our second century,” said Duke Provost Alec Gallimore in a video message to the DKU Class of 2028, also welcoming the students to the “broader Duke community” of “nearly 200,000 alumni.”
The initial agreement for DKU — a partnership formed between Duke University and Wuhan University in 2013 — is set to expire in 2028. Thus, by the time the nearly 500 newly-enrolled students graduate, Duke will be faced with the decision to renew the contract for the Jiangsu-based university.
“DKU continues to grow and attract globally minded students from around the world who are looking for a unique educational experience,” Gallimore wrote in a Tuesday email to The Chronicle. “We are proud of what DKU has accomplished in a short time, particularly the diversity of the student body, and are excited to continue to welcome DKU students in the dual-degree program to Duke, where they add so much to the vibrancy of our campus community.”
The future of DKU
The University will weigh a number of challenges as it considers the path forward for DKU.
At a Nov. 3, 2022, meeting of the Arts & Sciences Council, President Vincent Price spoke about DKU’s success over its first decade of operations, though he did not take a clear stance on whether the venture would continue in 2028.
Price referred to DKU as a “study in contrast,” pointing to the university's “phenomenal students” and “very strong faculty” as assets but also noting that it faced worsening geopolitical circumstances that were “compounded by COVID.”
“We are looking at that [2028] renewal and just — we've got to be clear-eyed,” Price said at the 2022 meeting. “The world is conspiring to make that kind of a project really hard these days.”
In the Tuesday email, the University did not respond to The Chronicle’s questions about whether there are updated announcements regarding DKU’s 2028 expiration or the University’s position on the difficulty of continuing the agreement.
Expansion of DKU’s campus
As DKU looks to graduate its fourth undergraduate class in May 2025, its campus has undergone rapid development and expansion.
Plans for the construction of the campus are benchmarked by “phases.” Phase 1 began in 2010 and completed in 2019.
Phase 2 — which more than doubled the size of the campus with the addition of a new library, sports complex, research center and nine new residence halls — began in August 2019 and was completed in May 2023.
Conceptual plans for Phases 3 and 4 are already in place, though timelines for their completion have not been announced.
Challenges during COVID-19
A key component of the DKU experience is the opportunity for a “Global Learning Semester” to study abroad at Duke in Durham.
The first DKU study abroad cohort spent a semester in Durham in fall 2020. The following year, Duke gave DKU students the option to study at Duke’s Durham campus when COVID-19 travel disruptions barred DKU students in the U.S. from traveling to China.
In 2022, in response to changes in China’s visa and entry policies, the University reinstated its expectation that DKU students would return to Kunshan in the spring, no longer offering dual enrollment at Duke in Durham or hybrid or remote learning. The decision elicited concerns among some DKU students who had spent as many as five semesters in Durham.
While DKU now operates largely as it did pre-pandemic, some DKU students have shared concerns over difficulty integrating with the campus social scene in Durham and classes being held virtually as recently as the 2023-24 academic year.
DKU convocation
The Friday convocation ceremony in Kunshan featured speeches from DKU Executive Vice Chancellor John Quelch and Chancellor Yaolin Liu.
“The next four years are going to be the most revealing of your life,” Quelch told the Class of 2028, also calling on the students to place trust in themselves and one another.
Liu encouraged students to celebrate DKU’s cultural diversity and adopt a “lifelong learning” mindset, while also maintaining focus on their health and wellness.
The event also included student remarks.
“I believe that DKU will help me achieve my goals by not only immersing myself in Chinese culture but also broadening my perspective through other students, faculty and courses,” said Sara Salazar, a member of the Class of 2028 from Texas. Salazar and her sister, Ally, enrolled at DKU after studying Mandarin for 12 years.
DKU held its first undergraduate classes for the fall semester on Monday.
Editor's note: This story was updated Wednesday to say that the DKU agreement expires in 2028. It had previously been reported to end in 2027.
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Michael Austin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.