Duke University

Duke University is a private institution that was founded in 1838 A.D. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,626 students, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 8,709 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Duke University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 8. Its tuition and fees are $49,341 (2015-16).

Durham, North Carolina, which surrounds Duke's campus, offers a variety of activities including shopping, dining and entertainment. Its "Bull City" nickname comes from the Blackwell Tobacco Company's Bull Durham Tobacco. Students at Duke are required to live on campus for their first three years, and freshmen live together on the East Campus. The Duke Blue Devils maintain a fierce rivalry with the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill Tar Heels and are best known for their outstanding men's basketball program, one of the top five winningest college basketball programs in the country. Approximately 30 percent of the student body is affiliated with Greek life, which encompasses more than 30 fraternities and sororities.

Duke University is divided into 10 schools and colleges, many of which serve both undergraduate and graduate students. Its graduate programs include the highly ranked Fuqua School of Business, Pratt School of Engineering, School of Law, School of Medicine, Sanford School of Public Policy and School of Nursing. Duke also offers graduate programs through its well-respected Divinity School and Nicholas School of the Environment. Duke's most esteemed undergraduate scholarship, the Robertson Scholars Program, provides approximately 18 students from each class with a monetary reward and the opportunity to study for a semester at UNC-Chapel Hill. Notable alumni include Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; NBA player Carlos Boozer; and former U.S. Congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Duke University offers a unique and compelling combination of academic achievement, engagement with society, and athletic accomplishment at the highest levels. A private comprehensive teaching and research university, Duke traces its roots to 1838, officially becoming Duke University in 1924. In addition to liberal arts and engineering education at the undergraduate level, Duke offers graduate and professional study in arts and sciences, business, divinity, engineering, the environment, law, public policy, medicine, and nursing. At the same time, Duke is an intimate setting, with 6,800 undergraduates and an additional 6,000 graduate and professional students. Duke is a global university with students and faculty from nearly every country. We encourage students to go abroad to study, perform service and conduct research. About half of Duke's graduating class spends at least a semester in another country - one of the highest percentages of any of the nation's top private research universities. We offer instruction in 25 foreign languages. One of our most popular programs is DukeEngage, which supports undergraduates who want to pursue an immersive service experience in the U.S. or abroad. Duke is characterized by innovation, entrepreneurship, energy and ambition. Duke students have an unusually wide range of opportunities available to them and freedom in choosing the academic path that best meets their needs. Duke students are encouraged to make a difference, to experiment with ideas and organizations and they are challenged to become engaged with society's problems and solutions. Our students spend four years on one of the most beautiful campuses in America -- soaring Gothic buildings, modern teaching and research facilities, lush botanical gardens, and accessible athletics and recreational spaces. Duke's home of Durham is a historic tobacco and textile hub that has emerged as the heart of North Carolina's hi-tech Research Triangle, and is consistently recognized as one of the most desirable and vibrant places to live in the country. Durham's arts, culture, recreation and restaurants have earned a national following, and the region provides numerous opportunities for post-graduate employment. Duke students exhibit legendary passion and enthusiasm. Duke's athletic program is regularly ranked among the nation's strongest and most competitive, with some of the country's most talented scholar-athletes and dedicated fans: the Cameron Crazies. A member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Duke has thirteen men's varsity teams and thirteen women's varsity teams as well as numerous intramural, recreational, and club sports. Duke consistently leads the ACC in Academic Honor Roll students and is a top producer of Academic All Americans. The residential experience is an important component of a Duke education. About 85 percent of all undergraduates live on campus. First-year students live together on East Campus, where about a quarter of them participate in FOCUS, a living/learning program organized around academic themes, which gives them immediate access to faculty mentoring and a smaller community of students they get to know well. Duke is one of a small number of schools committed to a need-blind admission policy, which means we admit undergraduates without consideration of a family's ability to pay tuition and other college costs and meet 100 percent of a student's demonstrated financial need for four years. About 54 percent of our undergraduates receive some sort of financial assistance, including need-based aid, merit or athletic scholarships. With the rigorous academics, the plethora of social and artistic activities, the immersive service and cultural opportunities and the occasional basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the most important things students need to bring with them to Duke are energy and intellectual curiosity. 

Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States is the Flagship University of the six-campus Purdue University system. In 1865, the Indiana General Assembly voted to take advantage of the Merrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862, and began plans to establish an institution with a focus on agriculture and engineering. Communities throughout the state offered their facilities and money to bid for the location of the new college. Popular proposals included the addition of an agriculture department at Indiana University or at what is now Butler University. 

By 1869, Tippecanoe County’s offer included $150,000 from Lafayette business leader and philanthropist John Purdue, $50,000 from the county, and 100 acres 0.40 km2 of land from local residents. On May 6, 1869, the General Assembly established the institution in Tippecanoe County as Purdue University, in the name of the principal benefactor. Classes began at Purdue on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. Professor John S. Maugham was Purdue’s first faculty member and served as acting president between the administrations of president's Short ridge and White. A campus of five buildings was completed by the end of 1874.Purdue issued its first degree, a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, in 1875 and admitted its first female students that fall. 

Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Merrill Act, accepted a donation of land and money from Lafayette businessman John Purdue to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name. The first classes were held on September 16, 1874, with six instructors and 39 students. 

The university was founded with the gift of $150,000 from John Purdue, a Lafayette business leader and philanthropist, along with $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, and 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land from Lafayette residents in support of the project. In 1869, it was decided that the new school would be built near the city of Lafayette and established as Purdue University, in the name of the institution’s principal benefactor. 

The West Lafayette campus offers more than 200 majors for undergraduates, over 70 masters and doctoral programs, and professional degrees in pharmacy and veterinary medicine. In addition, Purdue has 18 intercollegiate sports teams and more than 900 student organizations. Today, Purdue is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue enrolls the second largest student body of any university in Indiana as well as the fourth largest international student population of any university in the United States