Duke University is a private university founded in 1892 in Durham, North Carolina by Quaker and Methodist groups in the region. Duke gets its name from the tobacco and electrical magnate Washington Duke, who worked with Julian S. Carr in the late 1890s to build the school’s first campus, known locally as East Campus. The university's West Campus was later constructed in the early 1930s in a gothic and Georgian style. Duke has 12 schools and undergraduate programs including the Pratt School of Engineering, Duke Kunshan, and the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. 

Duke has a total undergraduate enrollment of around 15,000 students that take classes according to a semester-based academic calendar. Prospective students should note that tuition is well over $50,000 with an acceptance rate of just under 10%, making it one of the hardest, most costly schools in the U.S. 

Duke has a history of academic research and has annual budgets that exceed $1 billion, with strong biomedical funding from groups like the NIH. The graduation rate at Duke is an impressive 94.5%, thanks in part to the student-to-faculty ratio of 8:1 as well as strong financial aid packages. The Duke Blue Devils are known globally for their success in NCAA men’s basketball, with their coach, known as Coach K, winning 5 national championships during his tenure at the school. Notable alumni include retired Representative Ron Paul, news anchor Judy Woodruff, and billionaire Melinda French.