Birmingham-Southern College vs Duke University

Birmingham-Southern College and Duke University, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Birmingham-Southern, a private liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama, fosters a close-knit community with a focus on undergraduate education. Duke, a renowned private research university in Durham, North Carolina, is known for its academic rigor and world-class research opportunities. While both universities offer a diverse range of academic programs, Birmingham-Southern's acceptance rate of 68% and average class size of 15 provide a more intimate learning environment compared to Duke's 8% acceptance rate and average class size of 20. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about the differences in popular majors, student body demographics, graduation rates, and other key factors that can help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Birmingham-Southern College	Duke University
Overview
Location	Birmingham, Alabama	Durham, North Carolina
Campus setting	City: Midsize	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	4-1-4	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	78.0%	98.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Methodism	Methodism

Admission
Acceptance rate	65.9%	5.9%
Application fees	$50	Undergraduate: $85 Graduate: $95
SAT range	1090 - 1240	1468 - 1558
ACT range	22 - 28	33 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	7.0%	47.0%
Students submitting ACT score	54.0%	46.0%
Total number of applicants	2,461	49,703
Total number of admissions given out	1,622	2,927
Admitted students who chose to enroll	244	1,744
Yield rate	15.0%	59.6%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$33,790	$79,860
Average net price	$22,888	$27,297
Tuition	$18,850	$58,085
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,900 Meal plan: $5,650	Room/dormitory: $9,164 Meal plan: $6,862
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	97.0% Average amount $10,781	46.0% Average amount $50,731
Students receiving federal student loan	79.0% Average amount $3,074	20.0% Average amount $4,537
Students taking out private loans	6.0% Average amount $13,570	3.0% Average amount $22,957

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,058 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%	6,883 Men 48.4% Women 51.6%
Graduate students	N/A	10,737 Men 45.5% Women 54.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	38.4%	N/A
International students	1.5%	21.4%
Campus local/setting	City: Midsize	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,418	5,718
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Alabama Georgia Tennessee Florida Texas	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Psychology Business Computer and Information Science Education	Business Health Professions Engineering Legal Profession Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio	10:1	6:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	69.8%	95.9%
Dropout rate	4.8%	4.0%
Transferred out	24.7%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,374 Year 2: $33,993 Year 3: $50,065 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,048 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $23,580 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: N/A	International Business (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $151,472 Year 2: $213,978 Year 3: $201,782 Law (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $155,031 Year 2: $168,098 Year 3: $200,300 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $143,622 Year 2: $148,189 Year 3: $163,560 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $163,977 Year 2: $138,342 Year 3: $159,598 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $115,135 Year 2: $106,898 Year 3: $134,542 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $123,138 Year 2: $116,541 Year 3: $124,406 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $108,817 Year 2: $97,071 Year 3: $117,262 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $94,699 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $112,646 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $97,661 Year 2: $91,078 Year 3: $108,736 Economics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $104,348

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Birmingham-Southern College vs Duke University

Birmingham-Southern College

Duke University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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