Duke University

01Duke undergraduate programs

A four-year bachelor's where you choose your major after two years of looking.

Undergraduates at Duke study in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences or the Pratt School of Engineering, on one campus in Durham, NC. You apply once, through the undergraduate admissions office, and you are taught from the first semester by faculty who run their own seminars and labs.

Ask about undergraduate study Check your application timeline
Degree
Bachelor's
Length
4 years, full time
Schools
Trinity College; Pratt School of Engineering
Major
Declared at the end of year 2
Admitted by
Undergraduate admissions office
Cost
Published each academic year; confirmed on inquiry

01.1What undergraduates study

Two schools, one application, and a studio open to both.

Each area below has its own faculty and its own way of teaching. The price basis sits with each one because it differs slightly.

A professor turns from the chalkboard to take a question in a full lecture room
Fig. U1An introductory lecture, mid-question. Large courses have discussion sections led by smaller groups.

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Undergraduate arts and sciences

Majors across the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences. History, languages, philosophy, economics, biology, chemistry, mathematics and more, each run by its own department with its own faculty.

The first two years are wide on purpose. You take courses across several areas, and most students declare a major at the end of the second year. Changing your mind in year one costs nothing. Changing it in year three can cost a semester, so the advising conversations in year two matter.

Introductory courses can be large. Past the first year, most classes get small, and a seminar of twelve is ordinary.

Level
Bachelor's degree
Length
Four years full time
Major declared
End of the second year
Taught by
Department faculty, with discussion sections in larger courses

Price basisCost of attendance published each academic year; confirmed on inquiry, never quoted on the site.

Engineering students and a faculty lead assemble and test a small robotics rig on a workbench
Fig. U2First-year design lab. The hex key is doing more work than the laptop.

Pratt School of Engineering

Undergraduate engineering

If you want to study engineering in North Carolina and build things before your third year, this is the part of the university to read closely. Design and build work starts in the first year, in team projects with a faculty lead who sets a real problem and then mostly watches.

Expect a workbench, a multimeter and a deadline in the first semester. Expect the first version of your team's device to fail. That is the point of doing it early: the second version teaches more than any lecture on tolerances.

Engineering students share the campus, the libraries and many courses with arts and sciences students, and a good number take a minor on the other side.

Level
Bachelor's degree in engineering
Length
Four years full time
First year
Team design and build project with a faculty lead
Apply
State engineering on the undergraduate application

Price basisCost of attendance published each academic year; confirmed on inquiry.

A student pulls a linocut print from the press while an instructor checks the ink
Fig. U3Linocut off the press. The instructor is reading ink density, not the image.

Open to every undergraduate

Studio arts for undergraduates

Printmaking and studio courses are open to students outside the arts majors. A chemistry major can take linocut. An engineer can take drawing. Plenty do, usually in the second or third year when the schedule loosens.

These are taught as studio courses: you work at the press or the bench during class, an instructor walks the room, and critique happens with the work pinned up. You will get ink on your hands. Wear something you do not mind ruining.

Who can enroll
Any undergraduate, space permitting
Format
Studio sessions with critique
Media
Printmaking, drawing and other studio practice

Price basisIncluded in undergraduate enrollment; materials fees published per course.

LengthFour years
Major declaredEnd of year two
First-year seminarSmall, faculty-taught
Paid on this siteNothing, ever

01.2Seminars and advising

What the four years look like, in the order they happen.

Dates move a little from year to year. The sequence does not.

  1. Y1 First-year seminar and a pre-major advisor

    Every first-year student takes small seminars taught by faculty, not graduate assistants. You are assigned an advisor before classes start, and you meet them before you register for the second semester.

    Fall and spring
  2. Y2 Exploring, then declaring

    You finish the broad requirements and take the introductory courses for the majors you are weighing. At the end of the year you declare, and your advisor becomes someone in that department.

    Declare by end of spring
  3. Y3 Depth, and often a lab or a term away

    Upper-level courses in the major. This is when many students join a faculty lab or start an independent study; the research page explains how placements are arranged.

    Research placements open
  4. Y4 Senior work

    A capstone, a senior design project in engineering or a thesis in departments that offer one. Optional in most majors. Read by faculty who know the field.

    Final year

01.3Before you apply

Straight answers to the doubts we hear from applicants.

Including the one about who should probably look elsewhere.

Q1Do I have to choose arts and sciences or engineering on the application?

Yes, you indicate which school you are applying to. Moving between them after enrollment is possible in some cases and is handled with your advisor, but it is not automatic and it can affect how long the degree takes. If you are torn, write to us before you apply.

Q2Can I transfer to Duke University from another college?

There is a transfer route with its own application. The office reads your college transcript closely. Which credits carry over is decided after admission, course by course, so do not plan your graduation date around credits you have not had confirmed. The admissions page covers the documents.

Q3How much does it cost?

The cost of attendance is published each academic year. Studio courses may carry a materials fee, which is listed with the course. We confirm the current figures when you ask. We do not quote them by email, because they change.

Q4Will a degree here get me a job or into graduate school?

We do not publish outcomes as promises, and we will not start now. What we can describe is the teaching. Seminars are small, the faculty run their own labs, and many undergraduates do real research work before they graduate. What you make of it is yours.

Q5Who is this not a good fit for?

Students who want a fully online or part-time bachelor's; this is a full-time residential degree. And students who would rather not be known by name. In a seminar of twelve, you will be.

01.4Write to the desk

Ask about undergraduate study.

Which school, which major, how transfer credit works, when to visit. One message reaches the admissions and visitor desk in Durham.

Say where you are now (secondary school, another college) and the term you are aiming for. That saves a round of email. For graduate and professional degrees, see graduate and professional programs

Form U1 / Undergraduate inquiryNo payment taken