---
title: Duke University — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Durham, NC
control: Private nonprofit
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# Duke University

Durham, NC · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $97,800 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $66,351 – $171,770 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $12,000 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $5,500 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 97% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $87,072 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 92% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.12× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $69,800 | derived |

**97% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $12,000 (≈ 12% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $20,291 to $163,977 across 42 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $163,977 | $98,014 |
| Law. | Doctoral Degree | $155,031 | $158,000 |
| International Business. | Master's Degree | $151,472 | $117,357 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $143,622 | $80,630 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Doctoral Degree | $123,138 | $105,069 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $115,135 | $13,500 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $108,817 | $14,500 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $108,612 | $78,343 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $108,130 | $136,412 |
| Medical Illustration and Informatics. | Master's Degree | $105,456 | $45,810 |
| Engineering-Related Fields. | Master's Degree | $97,661 | $42,568 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $95,695 | $89,495 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $94,699 | $13,187 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Master's Degree | $73,093 | not reported |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $71,314 | $10,000 |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Master's Degree | $67,601 | $66,331 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $67,573 | $13,894 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Doctoral Degree | $65,425 | $161,694 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $65,409 | $18,750 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Master's Degree | $62,431 | $48,310 |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Doctoral Degree | $62,185 | $25,583 |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $60,357 | not reported |
| Medicine. | Doctoral Degree | $59,057 | $142,262 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $57,039 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Bachelor's Degree | $51,435 | $10,500 |
| Religion/Religious Studies. | Master's Degree | $49,269 | not reported |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Master's Degree | $46,818 | not reported |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $46,377 | $86,775 |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $45,091 | $13,000 |
| Area Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,489 | not reported |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,130 | $14,016 |
| International and Comparative Education. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,961 | $8,000 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $42,110 | $15,415 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $41,241 | not reported |
| Theological and Ministerial Studies. | Master's Degree | $40,809 | $53,550 |
| Visual and Performing Arts, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | $38,636 | not reported |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,241 | $15,362 |
| Neurobiology and Neurosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $34,195 | $12,645 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,797 | $11,875 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,441 | not reported |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $20,909 | $12,500 |
| Biology, General. | Master's Degree | $20,291 | $65,507 |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore Duke University by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?198419

---

Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/duke-university-nc.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`