08About / How the university is organised

A university is organised so that a first-year and a faculty member can end up at the same table.

Duke is a private research university in Durham, NC. It teaches at every level on one campus: bachelor's degrees in arts, sciences and engineering, master's and doctoral study, and professional schools. This page explains how those parts fit, and who runs the site you are reading.

Type
Private research university
Based in
Durham, NC, United States
Site
duke.us.org
Payments
None taken online
Fig. 08.1 Reading room
Students read and take notes at long tables in a stone Gothic reading room
08.1The library is shared by every school. An undergraduate and a doctoral candidate borrow from the same shelves and sit at the same tables.
AWhat the university is for

Teaching and research done by the same people, in the same buildings

A research university does two jobs. It teaches, and it makes new knowledge. The argument for putting both under one roof is that each makes the other better. Faculty who run a lab teach differently from those who only lecture. Students who have sat in on a lab meeting read a paper differently.

That is the reason undergraduates here are placed in research labs that graduate students and faculty run. Not every student takes that route. Many do, usually from the second or third year, often for credit. The detail is on the research page.

What we will not do on this site: rank ourselves against other schools, publish outcomes as promises, or ask you for payment. Admission is decided by people reading files. No web page can predict it.

BHow the schools fit together

Four levels of study, one campus, separate doors in

The most useful thing to know is who admits you. It is not one office. Each level below has its own reader, its own dates and its own page.

The university by level of study
LevelBuilt aroundAdmitted byPage
Undergraduate arts and sciencesA four-year bachelor's in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Major declared at the end of the second year.Undergraduate admissionsundergraduate.html
Undergraduate engineeringA four-year bachelor's in Pratt School of Engineering, with design and build work from the first year.Undergraduate admissionsundergraduate.html
Graduate SchoolMaster's and doctoral degrees built around an advisor and a thesis or dissertation.The departmentgraduate.html
Professional schoolsLaw, Medicine, Nursing, Fuqua business, Divinity, Nicholas environment, Sanford public policy.Each schoolgraduate.html

Not sure which door is yours? The checker sorts it out from five inputs and tells you how much lead time you have.

Check your admission route
CWho runs this site

This site is run by Duke, from Durham, North Carolina

The site at duke.us.org is operated by Duke, trading as Duke University. It is a private research university, not a reseller, agency or directory. The office behind it is based in Durham, NC, in the United States, and the address below is where post reaches it.

Operator
Duke, trading at duke.us.org
Kind of body
Private research university
Postal address
BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27708, DURHAM, NC, United States
Governing law
The law of NC, United States; disputes heard in the courts of DURHAM
Terms in effect
September 28, 2026

The most common mistake is a transcript sent to the wrong box number. Ours is BOX 90502.

DWhat the site does

What this site is for, in things you can check

Every item below is something you can open and test from the navigation. If one of them does not work the way it is described, write and say so.

  • D.1Describes the programsWhat is taught at each level, how long a degree takes and who teaches it. A bachelor's here takes four years; a doctorate is built around a dissertation.Undergraduate, graduate, researchOpen
  • D.2Explains the routes inFirst-year, transfer, graduate, professional and visiting routes, with the documents each needs and a timeline checker.Admissions, checkerOpen
  • D.3Books visits and advising by inquiryThe campus tour and a conversation with an admissions officer are both free. You ask through a form; a person replies.Free, by inquiryOpen
  • D.4Describes life on campus and in the cityResidence, dining, sport, the arts and support services, plus a page on Durham for visitors.Campus life, DurhamOpen

What the site does not do

It takes no payment and holds no accounts or passwords. It does not quote cost. The cost of attendance is published each academic year and confirmed on inquiry, because it changes. It does not accept applications; the application goes through the route the admissions page describes.

How the site is paid for and measured

Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising send paid traffic to these pages, and Meta Ads may. Measurement and advertising storage stay off until you allow them in the cookie banner. The detail, including click identifiers and Consent Mode, is in the privacy policy and the cookie statement.

EWho to write to

How to reach a person at the admissions and visitor desk

Every message goes to the same desk in Durham, and a staff member reads it. Email is best for anything with a document attached. Call when the question is short. The phone is answered during office hours on weekdays; outside those hours, leave a message or write.

We do not promise a reply within a set number of hours. Busy weeks in the admissions calendar are slower, and we would rather answer properly than answer fast.

FStraight answers

Questions about the university that are not about applying

01Why does the site not list rankings or outcomes?

Because a ranking measures what the publisher chose to measure, and an outcome figure reads as a promise to the next student. Neither is ours to make. We describe what is taught and how instead.

02Can I study across schools?

Often, yes. Undergraduates take courses in both Trinity and Pratt, and studio arts courses are open to students outside the arts majors. Graduate students sometimes take courses in a professional school. Each program sets its own rules; ask the department.

03Is this the place to ask about a job at the university?

No. This desk handles study, admission and visits. We can tell you where to write, but we cannot answer employment questions ourselves.