Admissions
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Students seeking to do graduate work at Duke University, whether for degree or non-degree purposes, must be formally admitted to the Graduate School by the Dean. Prerequisites for admission include a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree) from an accredited institution, and for degree programs, satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination. International applicants must also provide official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Individual departments may specify additional prerequisites, which can be found in their program descriptions.
Students who do not intend to earn an advanced degree at Duke, but who wish to take graduate courses, may apply for non-degree admission. Such admission is granted in three different categories: (1) admission as a regular non-degree student with a particular department; (2) admission as a special non-degree student without departmental affiliation through the Office of Continuing Studies; and (3) admission as an unclassified student in the summer session only.
Credits earned by non-degree students taken at Duke before full admission to the Graduate School may be carried over into a graduate degree program if (1) the action is recommended by the student's director of graduate studies and approved by the dean; (2) the work is not more than two years old; (3) the amount of such credit does not exceed one semester at full-time tuition; and (4) the work has received grades of B or better.
Students who have discontinued a program of degree work at Duke must apply for readmission to the Graduate School. Those who discontinue study prior to completing a degree must, by letter, request permission of the dean to be readmitted to the degree program; those who discontinue study after earning a master's degree must file a new application for the doctoral program.
Information about the process of applying for admission to graduate study at Duke is provided in the following sections. Read all instructions carefully to ensure proper and complete application and to avoid mistakes that may delay the consideration of your file.
Required application materials are briefly stated below. (Important details about these requirements are outlined throughout the Requirements section.)
Required Materials
- Electronic application. The electronic application can be accessed by clicking here.
- $75 application fee (unless otherwise noted on a Duke departmental web site)
- Three letters of evaluation
- Official, confidential transcript(s)
- GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores (report code: 5156)
- English language proficiency test scores for international applicants -- either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the academic modules of the International Language Testing System (IELTS) accepted, but IELTS is preferred.
Completed materials should be mailed to:
Graduate School Enrollment Services Office
127 Allen Bldg., Box 90065
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0065
Materials submitted in support of an application are not released for other purposes and cannot be returned to the applicant.
Note to International Applicants:
All application requirements discussed pertain to both U.S. and international students. Items of special relevance to international applicants are given throughout, however, and you should pay particular attention to these notes, especially those pertaining to the submission of transcripts and other academic records in the Requirements section.
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