Wesleyan University vs Duke University

Wesleyan University and Duke University, both highly regarded private institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Wesleyan, located in Middletown, Connecticut, is a liberal arts college with a strong emphasis on undergraduate teaching and research. Duke, situated in Durham, North Carolina, is a comprehensive research university with a diverse range of academic programs. While both universities boast impressive faculty and resources, they differ in terms of acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover which university better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Duke University	Wesleyan University
Overview
Location	Durham, North Carolina	Middletown, Connecticut
Campus setting	City: Large	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	98.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Methodism

Admission
Acceptance rate	5.9%	19.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $85 Graduate: $95	$55
SAT range	1468 - 1558	1300 - 1510
ACT range	33 - 35	31 - 34
Students submitting SAT score	47.0%	51.0%
Students submitting ACT score	46.0%	27.0%
Total number of applicants	49,703	13,067
Total number of admissions given out	2,927	2,540
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,744	910
Yield rate	59.6%	35.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$79,860	$82,245
Average net price	$27,297	$20,535
Tuition	$58,085	$61,449
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,164 Meal plan: $6,862	$17,531
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	46.0% Average amount $50,731	40.0% Average amount $58,925
Students receiving federal student loan	20.0% Average amount $4,537	18.0% Average amount $3,834
Students taking out private loans	3.0% Average amount $22,957	2.0% Average amount $27,881

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	6,883 Men 48.4% Women 51.6%	3,385 Men 43.8% Women 56.2%
Graduate students	10,737 Men 45.5% Women 54.5%	196 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	90.3%
International students	21.4%	11.3%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	5,718	3,063
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	New York California Connecticut New Jersey Pennsylvania

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Health Professions Engineering Legal Profession Social Sciences	Social Sciences Psychology Ethnic Studies Visual & Performing Arts Physical Science
Students to faculty ratio	6:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	New England Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	95.9%	91.0%
Dropout rate	4.0%	3.6%
Transferred out	N/A	5.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	International Business (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $151,472 Year 2: $213,978 Year 3: $201,782 Law (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $155,031 Year 2: $168,098 Year 3: $200,300 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $143,622 Year 2: $148,189 Year 3: $163,560 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $163,977 Year 2: $138,342 Year 3: $159,598 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $115,135 Year 2: $106,898 Year 3: $134,542 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $123,138 Year 2: $116,541 Year 3: $124,406 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $108,817 Year 2: $97,071 Year 3: $117,262 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $94,699 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $112,646 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $97,661 Year 2: $91,078 Year 3: $108,736 Economics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $104,348	Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $53,775 Year 3: $53,847 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,232 Year 2: $36,334 Year 3: $45,541

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.

Wesleyan University vs Duke University

Duke University

Wesleyan University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

Compare Similar Colleges

Find Colleges By State

Resources

About