Duke University is a private university situated in Durham, North Carolina. The university has symbolic, formal, historical, and on-going ties with the United Methodist Church, but is an independent and non-sectarian institution. According to U.S. News rankings, Duke is one of the top 20 universities in the world. In 2012, Forbes magazine came out with a list of “power factories”, and ranked Duke 7th. The Duke Blue Devils have a fierce rivalry with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, mainly in college basketball. The Blue Devils have one of the top college basketball programs in the country, and have won 4 National Championships.

History

Duke University was originally founded in 1838 in Randolph County as Brown’s Schoolhouse by the Union Institute Society, a group of Quakers and Methodists. In 1841, Brown’s School became the Union Institute Academy. It was renamed Normal College in 1851 and then Trinity College in 1859 with support from the Methodist Church. In 1892, Trinity relocated from Randolph County to Durham because of Washington Duke and Julian S. Carr who were respected and powerful Methodists, and had grown wealthy through the electrical and tobacco industries. In 1924, Duke’s son James B. Duke created “The Duke Endowment” with a 40 million dollar trust fund. Income from this endowment was to be distributed to orphanages, hospitals, colleges, and the Methodist Church. The president of Trinity at the time insisted that Trinity College be renamed Duke University. During World War II, Duke took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program along with 130 other universities and colleges. Today, Duke has a reputation as a research and academic powerhouse because of its continued growth and emphasis on academics.

Programs

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is ranked by U.S. News at the 11th best business school in the United States. U.S. News ranks Fuqua’s Executive MBA and Marketing programs as 4th best in the nation. The Fuqua School of Business offers many different graduate concentrations, including accounting, consulting, finance, leadership, and marketing. 86.5% of graduate students are employed by the time they graduate. The Daytime MBA program is a traditional, top ranked, full-time MBA program, but Fuqua also offers a Cross Continent MBA, Global Executive MBA, Weekend Executive MBA, and Ph.D. Program. The school also offers joint graduate degrees through the Duke University School of Law, School of Public Policy, School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing. Duke also has an excellent engineering program. The Pratt School of Engineering is the 28th best engineering school in the country according to U.S. News, and has the 4th best Biomedical Engineering program. Graduate students can earn a master of science, a master of engineering management, or a master of engineering from one of the school’s many engineering departments. It is a vibrant research and teaching institution that focuses on exploring the frontiers of engineering in a cross-disciplinary, hands-on learning environment. Graduate students are prepared for careers in the industry, academia, or government.

Pros & Cons

According to U.S. News, Duke is the 8th best university in the country. Students who attend Duke receive a top quality education and are prepared for high level positions in many different industries. It is mandatory for students to live on campus for their first 3 years. Freshmen students live together on the East Campus. This allows students to meet new people and get to know other students in their program. 30% of the student body is involved with Greek life which has more than 30 fraternities and sororities. 71.6% of classes have less than 20 students which allows students to interact with their professors. Duke is expensive to attend, however. Tuition costs over $40 000 and residence runs up to $12 850, which requires 45.1% of undergraduates to receive some form of financial aid. Duke also only has a 14% acceptance rate.