Duquesne University Overview

Duquesne University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is a great location for students who prefer city over country life.

What Is Duquesne University Known For?

• The student loan default rate at Duquesne is 3%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Duquesne.
• In 2017-2018, 51% of the faculty were full-time.
• Students who graduate from Duquesne with a bachelor's degree make about $58,500 a year. That's 43% more than those who graduate from other schools.
• It takes the average Duquesne student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.

Duquesne University Rankings

Duquesne landed the #317 spot in our 2021 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,320 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Duquesne.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Writing Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#16	Best General English Literature Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#20	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#20	Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#24	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#30	Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#32	Best Allied Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#33	Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#58	Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Duquesne has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#49	Best Nursing Schools	Nursing Degree Search
#53	Best Colleges for Health Professions	College Factual
#64	Best Colleges for Communication & Journalism	College Factual
#79	Best Colleges for Business Administration & Management	College Factual
#82	Best Colleges for Education	College Factual
#112	Best Colleges for Business, Management & Marketing	College Factual

Where Is Duquesne University?

Contact details for Duquesne are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	Administration Bldg 600 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Phone:	412-396-6000
Website:	www.duq.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/duquesneuniversityoftheholyspirit
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/duqedu

How Do I Get Into Duquesne?

You can apply to Duquesne online at: www.duq.edu/admissions-and-aid/undergraduate/apply-for-admission

Admission Requirements for Duquesne

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	considered but not required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Duquesne?

The acceptance rate at Duquesne University is 72%. This means that is not quite as selective as some schools, but you'll still need to submit a good application if you want to be considered by the admissions department.

Approximately 33% of accepted students are men and 67% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 74%, and the acceptance rate for women is 71%.

Average Test Scores

About 55% of students accepted to Duquesne submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 570 and 640. Math scores were between 550 and 630.

Duquesne received ACT scores from 29% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 24 and 30. Math scores were between 23 and 27. Composite scores were between 24 and 29.

Can I Afford Duquesne University?

The overall average net price of Duquesne is $36,747. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Duquesne, approximately 75% of students took out student loans averaging $9,425 a year. That adds up to $37,700 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Duquesne is 2.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Duquesne University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 6,013 undergraduate students at Duquesne, with 5,896 being full-time and 117 being part-time.

There are also 3,261 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 5,896 full-time undergraduates at Duquesne, 36% are male and 64% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Duquesne University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	195
Black or African American	305
Hispanic or Latino	216
White	4,771
International Students	158
Other Races/Ethnicities	251

Geographic Diversity

Pennsylvania students aren't the only ones who study at Duquesne University. At this time, 32 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 78 countries are represented at Duquesne. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Saudi Arabia, and India.

Online Learning at Duquesne University

There are 5 bachelor’s degree and 9 master’s degree programs available online at Duquesne. In 2017-2018, 1,708 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Duquesne has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 31st most popular in Pennsylvania for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.

Online Growth Rankings of Duquesne

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Duquesne University was -5.3%. This is the #2,476 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Duquesne regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Duquesne majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Educational Administration	12%
Health & Physical Education	29%
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	41%
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	29%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Duquesne ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Duquesne.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Business/Corporate Communications	#6
Behavioral Science	#6
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	#44
Computer Software & Applications	#87
Health & Physical Education	#110
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	#127
Instructional Media Design	#129
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies	#245
Teacher Education Grade Specific	#319
Computer & Information Sciences	#478

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Duquesne University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Nursing	266	4	38	8	316
Business Administration & Management	76	0	110	0	186
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	7	0	4	144	155
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	58	0	53	43	154
Allied Health Professions	66	0	44	0	110
Law	0	0	0	109	109
General Biology	91	0	0	3	94
Accounting	64	0	21	0	85
Marketing	85	0	0	0	85
Teacher Education Grade Specific	51	0	20	0	71
General Psychology	59	0	7	0	66
Music	34	8	23	0	65
Finance & Financial Management	64	0	0	0	64
Communication Sciences	24	0	39	0	63
Teacher Education Subject Specific	40	0	17	0	57
Public Relations & Advertising	51	0	4	0	55
History	29	0	16	0	45
Computer Information Systems	30	0	11	0	41
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	38	0	38
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	24	0	10	0	34
General English Literature	25	0	8	0	33
International Relations & National Security	33	0	0	0	33
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	31	0	0	0	31
Political Science & Government	30	0	0	0	30
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	0	29	29
Computer Software & Applications	20	1	6	0	27
Student Counseling	0	0	19	8	27
Communication & Media Studies	16	0	8	0	24
Biomedical Engineering	16	0	7	0	23
Philosophy	7	0	12	4	23
Health & Medical Administrative Services	11	0	10	0	21
Teaching English or French	0	9	11	0	20
Mathematics	20	0	0	0	20
Child Development & Psychology	0	0	20	0	20
Computer Science	19	0	0	0	19
Writing Studies	1	0	0	18	19
Sociology	19	0	0	0	19
Natural Resources Conservation	5	1	12	0	18
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	0	18	0	18
Business/Corporate Communications	14	0	3	0	17
Health/Medical Prep Programs	9	8	0	0	17
Educational Administration	0	0	12	4	16
Journalism	13	0	0	0	13
Instructional Media Design	0	0	10	3	13
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	0	0	7	6	13
International Business	12	0	0	0	12
Chemistry	4	0	4	4	12
Entrepreneurial Studies	11	0	0	0	11
Special Education	0	0	10	1	11
Theological & Ministerial Studies	3	0	2	4	9
Business/Managerial Economics	7	0	0	0	7
General Business/Commerce	7	0	0	0	7
Health & Physical Education	0	0	7	0	7
Physics	7	0	0	0	7
Public Policy	7	0	0	0	7
Economics	6	0	0	0	6
Biotechnology	0	0	5	0	5
Religious Education	0	0	5	0	5
Information Technology	0	0	4	0	4
Romance Languages	3	0	0	0	3
Drama & Theater Arts	3	0	0	0	3
Pharmacology & Toxicology	0	0	0	2	2
Other Business, Management & Marketing	2	0	0	0	2
General Education	2	0	0	0	2
Behavioral Science	2	0	0	0	2
Mathematics & Computer Science	0	0	2	0	2
Ethnic Studies	1	0	0	0	1
Classical Languages & Literature	1	0	0	0	1
Legal Research	0	0	1	0	1
Liberal Arts General Studies	1	0	0	0	1
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries	0	0	1	0	1
Sacred Music	0	0	1	0	1
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	0
Educational Assessment	0	0	0	0	0
Area Studies	0	0	0	0	0
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	0	0	0	0
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	1,487	31	660	390	2,568

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Alekjds under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.