These terms cover a reference site that sells nothing and takes no payment.
duke.us.org explains how Duke University admissions work, what the undergraduate and graduate programs are built around, and how to visit the campus in Durham, NC. Every clause below is one row: what it says, what it means in plain words, and why it is there at all.
Fig. 01A bound manuscript on a foam cradle. The record is read in the room, with a pencil. These terms are written to be read the same way: slowly, one row at a time.
Ledger of site terms. Thirteen clauses in four groups. On a phone each clause is its own block.
Clause
What it means
Why it applies
Group A. Who and when
A.01Effective date
These terms took effect on September 28, 2026, and that is also the date of the last update. A visit on or after that day is covered by this version. Earlier versions do not apply to anything you do here now.
A term only binds from a known date. Without one, nobody can tell which version governed a visit.
A.02Who these terms are with
The site is run by Duke, trading at duke.us.org. Post goes to BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27708, DURHAM, NC, United States. Email is [email protected] and the phone is (919) 684-5600.
You are entitled to know who stands behind a site before you give it your name. The box number matters; mail sent without it is the most common reason a letter goes astray.
A.03What the site provides
Reference pages on undergraduate study, graduate and professional programs, research, admissions routes, campus life and Durham. A route and timeline checker. An inquiry form and a support chat staffed by people. It does not accept applications, grant admission, decide financial aid, issue transcripts or hold a student record.
Applications and admission decisions run through the official application process and the departments. A reference site that looked like it could admit you would mislead you.
Group B. Inquiries and cost
B.01Inquiry only
Nothing is sold or paid for on this site. There is no cart, no checkout and no card field. A figure shown here is an estimate for planning and never a binding quote. An inquiry becomes something firmer only when the relevant office writes back to you directly, and for study that means a formal offer made through the admissions process, on its own terms, outside this site.
We do not ask for payment through the website. Ever. If a message claiming to be from us asks you to pay through a link, it is not from us; forward it to [email protected].
B.02How cost is set
Cost of attendance is published by the university once each academic year, in US dollars (USD). Graduate and professional programs set their own figures and funding terms by program. Studio courses may carry a published materials fee. Tours and advising conversations are free. What changes a figure: a new academic year, the program you enter, and your residence and course choices.
We do not quote cost by email, because it changes. The published figure for the year you enter is the one that counts, confirmed on inquiry.
Group C. Use and ownership
C.01Acceptable use
Do not submit an inquiry in someone else's name. Do not send the form or chat automated traffic, bulk messages or anything built to probe the server. Do not scrape pages at a rate that slows them for others. Do not upload malicious code, harass the staff who answer the chat, or use the site to pretend to be the university.
The form and chat reach real people in Durham. A flood of junk means a real applicant waits longer.
C.02Text, photographs and marks
The text, photographs, diagrams, the logo and the name on this site belong to Duke or are used under license. You may read, print and share a link for personal use or to plan an application. You may not republish the photographs, reuse the logo or present the copy as your own.
The photographs show real people working. Their use is agreed for this site and not for anyone else's.
Group D. Limits and law
D.01Provided as is
The pages are provided as is, for general information. We work to keep them current, but we do not warrant that every date, program detail or figure is correct on the day you read it. The checker gives planning windows; the admissions office publishes the binding dates. Nothing here promises admission, a grade, an exam result, a job, a salary, a visa or a place in a graduate program.
Programs change between years. A page cannot be the final word on a decision made by a department.
D.02Limit of liability
To the extent the law allows, Duke is not liable for loss that comes from relying on the site's general information instead of the published official source, from a gap in availability, or from a third-party site we link to. Because the site is free and takes no payment, any liability that cannot be excluded is limited to direct loss you can show. Nothing here limits liability that the law says cannot be limited.
A free reference site cannot carry the risk of a decision it did not make. The final sentence is there because some rights cannot be signed away, and we do not try.
D.03Refusing or withdrawing access
We may block an address, close a chat or ignore submissions that break clause C.01, without notice. We may also retire a page or the whole site. Closing a chat does not delete what you already sent; that follows the retention periods in the privacy policy.
The desk has to be able to stop abuse quickly. Blocking is kept for misuse, never for asking a hard question.
D.04Governing law
These terms run under the law of NC, United States. A dispute about them is heard in the courts of DURHAM. Consumer protections that apply where you live still apply.
The site is run from Durham. One named court avoids an argument about where to argue.
D.05Changes to these terms
A change is published on this page with a new effective date and version number at the top. A material change, such as a new use of inquiry data, is also flagged on the privacy policy for at least 30 days. We do not change terms retroactively.
You should be able to see what changed and when, without having to compare versions line by line.
D.06Questions about these terms
Write to [email protected] with "Terms" in the subject line, call (919) 684-5600, or post to BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27708, United States. For your own data, use the data request page.
A term you cannot ask about is a term you cannot rely on. One address, one inbox.
What the ledger cannot hold
A table is good at clauses and bad at context, so two points go here in prose.
First, the difference between this site and the application. Send the application once, through the official process. Do not send it again through the inquiry form to be safe; that creates two files and slows both. The form on the contact page is for questions: which route fits, whether a tour runs on a given week, where a transcript should go. Graduate admission is decided by the department, not a central office, so a question about a PhD program is best put to that program first, and we will forward it if it lands with us.
Second, the checker. It uses your entry term and today's date to estimate lead time against a planning threshold. It is arithmetic, not an assessment. A result of "comfortable" says nothing about your chances; it says you have time to gather documents. Treat any date it shows as a planning window and confirm the real deadline with admissions.
If a clause here and a published admissions policy disagree about an application, the admissions policy wins. These terms govern the website and nothing more.
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