#6

Contact our general manager with any questions. Profile updated: January 31, 2024.

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

  • Duke Fuqua MBA Profile Image 4
  • Duke Fuqua MBA Profile Image 3

MBA Program Stats

Annual Tuition: $71,750

Annual Tuition Non-Resident: $71,750

Acceptance Rate: 22%

Full-Time Enrollment: 385

Average GPA: 3.49

Median GMAT: 720

Median GRE: 317

International: 47%

Minority: 27%

Female: 45%

Male: 55%

Average Age: 29

What You Need To Know

The Duke Fuqua MBA: What You Need To Know

Since 1969, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has offered an exceptional full-time MBA that prepares students to become well-rounded leaders. Popular for its focus on the health sector management as it relates to business, the school also exudes a strong culture of Team Fuqua, where working together is valued and “we” is greater than “me.”

The B-school is based in Durham, North Carolina – a city known for pleasant weather, just a three hours’ drive to both the ocean and the Appalachian Mountains. Top companies in the area that often employ Duke MBAs include, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, BCG, Deloitte, and PwC.

“Students and graduates recognize they can achieve the highest results through tapping into strengths as a group, collaboratively,” emphasizes Senior Associate Dean Russ Morgan.
Fuqua focuses on developing leaders with high IQ (intelligence), EQ (the ability to motivate and connect with others) and last but far from least, DQ (the focus on elevating decency). “We want students with all three of these, especially with the critical element DQ. We want students who care about and respect others, seek to improve the community, and use their skills for good,” says Morgan, who emulates the culture himself.

Fuqua assesses prospective students’ IQ, EQ, and DQ through application materials such as the GMAT or GRE, an interview, and a few essays. The B-School wants to get to know prospective students on a personal level, with their unique prompt asking prospective MBAs to list 25 random things about themselves.

Fuqua enrolls 440 students a year on average. Year one is front loaded with core courses such as Leadership and Applied Entrepreneurship, the idea being to give students an early foundation in business so they can hone in on specific focuses in year two, which is all electives. Students can choose from around 16 concentrations, as well as several certificates. Many choose to pursue the ever-popular certificate in healthcare.

“My favorite aspect of the MBA at Fuqua is that there is an alignment across the community, where student engagement is incredibly high. Year after year, as expected, there’s turnover with students of course, but everyone that comes in really enhances and elevates the community. We are able to accomplish more jointly as a community. We celebrate that, we don’t take it for granted,” says Morgan.

Fuqua has a very active community involved in a long list of co-curricular activities; including 75 clubs like the Wine Club, which hosts “Wine Around the World,” where students interact with those they may not otherwise meet and gain exposure to other cultures. There are also professional conferences and applied practicums where students work in the field locally and internationally.

Rankings Data For Duke Fuqua

Duke Fuqua MBA Rankings Data

Ranking Poets&Quants
2023-2024 6
2022-2023 12
2021-2022 11
2020-2021 11
2019-2020 14

Getting Into This School

catherine tuttle Fortune

How To Tackle Duke’s 25 Random Things Q + Example Essay

Convey your uniqueness in a way that’s uncoupled by the prosaic nature of the typical essay

Career Stats

Duke MBA Compensation

MBA Compensation 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Median Base Salary $ 160,055 $ 141,109 $135,935 $135,725  125,000
Median Signing Bonus $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000

Duke MBA Graduate Employment Offers

Job Offers Within 3 Months 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Received An Offer 98% 98% 93% 97% 96%

Industry Choice of Duke MBAs

Industry Sector 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Consulting 36% 32% 31% 32% 32%
Technology 23% 27% 27% 33% 27%
Financial Services 16% 17% 18% 20% 16%
Healthcare 11% 10% 8% 8% 8%
Other 10% 8% 11% 12% 12%
Consumer Goods 4% 6% 5% 5% 5%

Where Duke MBAs Went to Work

Industry Sector 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Deloitte 32 0 13 26 24
Amazon 31 38 21 15 15
BCG 22 37 9 14 13
McKinsey & Company 19 45 17 21 12
EY Parthenon 14 0 0 0 0
Accenture LLP 13 0 12 12 12
Microsoft Corporation 11 23 11 11 13
Bain & Company 8 0 9 10 9
Google 8 18 0 0 0
JP Morgan 8 0 0 0 0
Bank of America Merryl Lynch 7 0 0 0 8
Barclay’s 7 0 0 0 0
Citi 0 0 0 0 9
Dell 0 18 0 0 0
PwC 0 0 8 0 13

Admissions For Duke Fuqua

MBA Watch For Duke Fuqua

MBA Watch is where thousands of MBA applicants not only get to tell their story but have John A. Byrne, MBA admissions coaches and our audience, assess their odds of admission and get help to improve their chances of getting in!

Ms. Female Sales Leader

A manager since age 24, I’ve managed teams of up to fourteen direct reports.

Ms. Interstellar Thinker

Graduated with a first class in Biotechnology Engineering.

Mr. Intel

2 years spent in Germany as Assistant Intelligence Chief, where my supervisor ranked me in the top 5% of my peers.

Mr. Quality Assurance

I am looking to start business school, ideally online or on weekends, next year following the completion of a 2 year operations leadership program at a top aerospace company.

Ms. General Motors

For the past five years, I've worked at General Motors in sales, marketing IT; started as a developer, promoted to requirements analyst and then systems analyst.

Mr. Army Aviator

Current Army Helicopter Pilot looking to head to get my MBA upon completing my service obligation in the next few years.

Mr. Musician To Consultant

I'm an ex-musician and a business consultant.

Mr. Low GPA

Extrovert Competitive Family man (married w/ 3 kids).

Mr. Vigor

I have a genetic disease.

Mr. Corporate Strategy

I am a Senior Analyst at the largest construction materials manufacturer in Central Asia.

News Coverage For Duke Fuqua

Duke Fuqua’s Improv Course Teaches MBA Students To Be Quick On Their Feet

The Workshop in Managerial Improvisation, a 5-day bootcamp in business improv pioneered by Bob Kulhan, marked 25 years in January

Duke Fuqua 2023 MBA Jobs Report: Another Big Jump In Median Salary & Total Comp

Median salary for Fuqua MBAs grows to $175K, pushing median total compensation to the doorstep of $200K

Acceptance Rates & Yield At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Acceptance rates rose at elite U.S. B-schools in 2022, but across all 50 P&Q-ranked schools the average rate was similar to 2021 — and some schools got much more selective