Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PAAdministration Bldg 600 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15282
412-396-6000
Duquesne University is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1878 by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne is the only Spiritan institution of higher education in the world. It is the only Catholic university in Pennsylvania and the only Spiritan university in the United States. Duquesne is considered a research university with high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
The university offers 10 schools of study and 100 degree programs to 6,000 undergraduates and 3,800 graduate students. Duquesne is consistently ranked among the nation's top Catholic universities and is a member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
Duquesne is located on a bluff overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. The university's campus is made up of 50 acres (20 ha) of land and features a variety of buildings, including academic and administrative buildings, residence halls, a library, and a chapel. The school's athletic teams, the Dukes, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Duquesne University was founded in 1878 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, a Catholic religious order, as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost. The school's charter was approved by Pope Leo XIII on October 1, 1878. The charter granted the university the power to confer degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, and philosophy. The first class of students, numbering 37, graduated in May 1880.
The school was originally located in the home of its founder, Fr. John DuBois, on Wylie Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. In June 1911, the university moved to its current location on the bluffs overlooking the Allegheny River. The new facility, Duquesne Hall, was completed in 1914.
The university experienced significant growth in the post-World War II era, under the leadership of Fr. Raymond G. Murray. In 1951, the Duquesne University School of Law was founded; in 1966, the Mary Pappert School of Music; and in 1979, the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts.
The university has been accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since 1949 and is a member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
Duquesne offers more than 100 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs through 10 schools of study: the Mary Pappert School of Music, the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, the Mylan School of Business, the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, the Rangos School of Health Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Law, the School of Nursing, and the Duquesne University Tamburitzans.
The university's graduate programs are highly regarded. The School of Education is ranked No. 1 in the nation for online graduate education programs by U.S. News & World Report, and the School of Law is ranked in the top 100 law schools by the same publication.
Duquesne is also home to a number of research centers and institutes, including the Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education, the Center for the Study of Spirituality, the Center for Health Care Ethics, and the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
The university's athletic teams, the Dukes, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Dukes football team has won two national championships (in 1955 and 1979) and appeared in the Orange Bowl in 1955. The men's basketball team has appeared in the NCAA tournament 11 times, most recently in 2019.
Quick Facts
Enrollment: 8830
Acceptance Rate: 77.19%
Type: Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above
Main Website: https://www.duq.edu/
Financial Aid: https://www.duq.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid
Annual Costs
Total Cost In-State On-Campus: $59104
Total Cost Out-State On-Campus: $59104
Return on Investment Rating
The estimated cost for four years as an undergraduate at Duquesne University is $219689.06. This includes the average cost of attendance for four years plus the interest on the average loan over a ten year repayment minus the average of grants and scholarships per student.
We then contrast this figure with average early-career and mid-career average incomes of graduates of four year programs at Duquesne University. For graduates of Duquesne University, we saw an average early-career income of $57400.00 and mid-career income of $102300.00. We then ranked the school's value based on how many years of mid-career income it takes to repay the educational costs.