Early Decision
Duke University Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2024-2025
NC
What is Duke University's early decision acceptance rate?
Duke University admitted 17.3% of its Early Decision applicants — 1,042 of 6,013 — according to its 2024-2025 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 4.2%, so the Early Decision rate was 4.1x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: Duke University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
What Duke University reported · Common Data Set 2024-2025
Early Decision · 1,042 admitted of 6,013 applied
17.3%
Everyone else in the same pool
4.2%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
4.1x
This compares two rates the school published for two groups of applicants. The Early Decision pool is not a random slice of the applicants — recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches are counted inside it — so this is a difference between the school’s two pools, not a multiplier on your own chances.
Does applying early decision to Duke University help?
On Duke University's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 4.1x the rate of everyone else: 17.3% against 4.2%. That does not mean applying early would lift your own odds that much. Recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches sit inside that pool, so part of the gap is who applies early, not when.
Source: Duke University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
Is early decision at Duke University binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, Duke University included: you may apply Early Decision to only one school, and if admitted you commit to attend and withdraw your other applications. The usual exception is an aid offer your family cannot afford, so check the costs on this page before you apply.
Source: Duke University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
When is Duke University's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, Duke University set its Early Decision deadline at Nov 2, 2026. Regular Decision applications are due Jan 4, 2027. Early Decision is binding: if admitted, you commit to attend, so compare the costs on this page before that date, not after an offer arrives.
Source: Duke University's admissions website, 2026-27 cycle, checked Sep 27, 2026.
Admitted SAT · middle 50% · College Scorecard 2024
1500–1570
Half of admitted students scored inside this range. It is the admitted band, not a minimum and not a cutoff, and it covers the whole entering class rather than the Early Decision round alone.
What families actually pay (AY 2023–24)
Early Decision is binding, so accepting one ends the option of comparing two aid offers. These are the published averages before that choice is made.
Average paid by students receiving federal aid, by family income (College Scorecard).
Aid exceeded cost of attendance.
International students are not eligible for U.S. federal aid, so they are not in this cohort and typically pay closer to the sticker price.
Across the 8 recorded cycles from 2018 to 2025, Duke University's overall acceptance rate fell from 8.9% to 5.2%. That is the whole entering class — Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision together — not the Early Decision round on its own.
See the year-by-year series →Common Data Set — the school's own annual filing, published by the school itself for the cycle named beside each figure. Duke University’s filing