Duke admitted 849 students to the Class of 2029 in a record-setting Early Decision applicant cycle, according to an email to The Chronicle from Director of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag.
The University received 6,627 Early Decision applications, a 6% increase over last year and the highest in Duke history. This cycle’s acceptance rate comes in at 12.8%, just under last year’s record of 12.9%.
All students admitted through the Early Decision cycle are required to enroll at Duke for the fall 2025 semester. Of those accepted in this cycle, 113 were admitted through the QuestBridge National College Match Program — the highest number in University history. In total, 2,998 QuestBridge finalists listed Duke as a potential match, bringing the program acceptance rate to 3.7%.
Of the admitted students, 672 plan to enroll in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and 177 plan to enroll in the Pratt School of Engineering. About 55% are female, and 45% are male. Guttentag did not reply to The Chronicle’s request for the racial demographics of the admitted students.
This year marks the second application cycle since the June 2023 Supreme Court ruling overturning race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Last year’s class had a racial profile consistent with previous years, in contrast with declines in racial diversity at other colleges and universities across the nation. Compared to the previous year, the Class of 2028 saw no change in Black student enrollment and one-percentage-point and six-percentage-point decreases in white and Asian student enrollment, respectively.
Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in the SCOTUS case that overturned race-based affirmative action, challenged Duke’s compliance with the ruling in September, claiming that the University’s racial numbers were “not possible.”
An April 2024 survey by The Chronicle found that over 50% of Duke faculty respondents opposed the Supreme Court ruling, with over 30% “strongly” opposed.
The June 2023 affirmative action ruling elevated conversations about the role of legacy admissions — preferential treatment of applicants who are alumni — and accelerated efforts to get rid of the practice. Guttentag did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for information on the percentage of admitted students with legacy status.
This year, Maryland became the first state to ban legacy admissions in all colleges that receive state funding, including both private and public universities. Similar laws have since been passed in Virginia, Illinois and California. North Carolina has not considered a ban on legacy admissions.
This year’s Early Decision class consists of 131 first-generation college students, and 207 students are expected to be Pell Grant recipients.
The University faced controversy last year for the socioeconomic diversity of its student body, with a September 2023 New York Times Magazine article labeling Duke as the “exception to the exception” among top-ranked schools for being “one of the least economically diverse colleges in the U.S.” The Class of 2028 saw a significant increase in admission of Pell Grant-eligible students, enrolling 22% — double the Class of 2026.
Guttentag shared that 148 students admitted in the Early Decision round came from the Carolinas — nearly the same number as the previous year. Last year, the University rolled out its Initiative for Students from the Carolinas, providing full tuition grants to students from North and South Carolina with family incomes below $150,000.
Beyond the Carolinas, the largest portion of Early Decision admits hail from New York, California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas. About 7% of admitted students are international, according to their citizenship, and 8% are international according to where the student attended high school. Outside of the United States, the most represented nations are China, the United Kingdom, Canada, India and Brazil.
This year marked the University’s fifth test-optional undergraduate admissions cycle. Guttentag did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for the number of admitted students who did not submit test scores.
Admissions decisions were released at 7 p.m. on Dec. 16.
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Michael Austin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Zoe Kolenovsky is a Trinity junior and news editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.