Duke MPP Admissions

We welcome applicants from a variety of academic and professional—as well as ethnic and cultural—backgrounds. Our selection committee considers academic performance and GRE scores, but also takes a close look at our applicants’ statement of purpose, general writing skills, relevant work experience, and faculty and employer evaluations.

We prefer students with two or more years of post-undergraduate work experience, but do admit a limited number of outstanding students directly from undergraduate programs.

MPP Student Profile*:  

  • Post-undergraduate work experience: 2 - 6 years
  • Age: 22 - 27 years old
  • Undergraduate GPA: 3.4 - 3.8
  • GRE range: V: 590 - 680; Q: 670 - 760; WA: 5.0 - 5.5
  • TOEFL (iBT) range:110 - 115
  • LSAT range: 165 - 168, Duke/UNC dual-degree JD students
  • GMAT Median: 80th percentile/640 - 760, Duke/UNC dual-degree MBA students

*Interquartile Ranges

We don’t schedule personal interviews as a part of our process, but are always happy to meet and talk with prospective students, and welcome them to our campus.

Statistics and Microeconomics

Though they are not prerequisites, we highly encourage completion of basic statistics and microeconomics courses from an accredited institution prior to application.  Our students’ first year goes much more smoothly when they have completed this coursework.

Phone: 919.613.9205      Email: MPPadmit@duke.edu

Loren Crippen, MPP '07

"Sanford's career services office introduced me to a lot of networking techniques that I wasn’t familiar with before. That’s what made my DC trip so good - they’d taught me about alumni networking and how to use those connections... I got to meet people who were more geared toward my field of interest and take full advantage of that experience."

Loren Crippin, MPP ’07
Advocacy Coordinator, American Immigration Lawyers Association