Duke Offers Admission To 3,565 Applicants For Class Of 2006

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University mailed acceptance letters this week to 3,059 top high school seniors from every state and dozens of nations vying for admission to the Class of 2006. The mailing brings the university's total offers of admission to 3,565 students, including 506 early-decision applicants accepted in December. The university is targeting 1,616 of the accepted students for enrollment this fall. "This was a particularly challenging year for applicants to Duke," said Christoph Guttentag, director of undergraduate admissions. "We were fortunate to receive a record number of early-decision and regular-decision applicants, and the academic and extracurricular accomplishments were outstanding. "One of the difficult parts of making admissions decisions on a pool of this size and scope is that we end up denying admission to students who we would have admitted just a few years ago. While we won't know until May just who will be enrolling at Duke, I know that this will be an entering class that will exemplify what we seek for Duke -- students who have talents in many areas, who are committed to their communities and who can't wait to take advantage of what Duke can offer them." This year, Duke's Undergraduate Admissions Office received 15,860 applications, surpassing the previous record of 15,120 set back in 1987. Last year, 14,711 students applied to the university. The university admitted 22.5 percent of the applicants this year. "When we are finished with the process, which could include admitting some students from the waiting list, the admit percentage will rise some, but I expect not above 23 percent," Guttentag said. "As recently as five years ago, we had a 30 percent admission rate." Other records broken this year include: total number of applicants to the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences (13,428); total number of applicants to the Pratt School of Engineering (2,432); and total number of applicants in each minority racial group, including African Americans (1,536), Asians/Asian Americans (2,848), Latinos (910) and Native Americans (115). "We've also had a record number of international applicants -- 1,200. The previous record was 753," Guttentag noted. "One primary reason for this is that we are offering need-based financial aid to international students for the first time, which we are delighted to be able to do. We also continue to recruit actively overseas." North Carolina remains the top state for admitted students, with 448. The remainder of the top five are: Florida (289); New York (277); Texas (226); and California (211). Guttentag said the number of applicants indicating they would apply for financial aid also increased this year, to the highest level in five years. "Part of the reason for this, again, lies in the presence of international students who are applying for aid, and part of it is most likely the result of a weaker economy." Duke invests more than $30 million in undergraduate financial aid each year. About 42 percent of Duke undergraduates receive financial aid. Duke admits students without regard to their ability to pay and then meets their demonstrated financial need.