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Duquesne University

  • Statistics

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Setting:
    Urban
    Public/Private:
    Private
    Undergraduates:
    5,677
    Selectivity:
    Less Selective
    Acceptance Rate:
    70 %
    Tuition and Fees:
    $28,671
    See All Statistics

  • Summary

    Duquesne University’s campus offers one of the best views in Pittsburgh, as well as top-notch programs ranging from music education to pharmaceutical sciences.

    Duquesne is a traditionally Catholic institution, and while its administration still honors the connection, it now welcomes students of all faiths. Since most students come from the tri-state (PA, OH, WV) region, the student body is predominantly white and Christian, but Duquesne’s nationally-ranked undergraduate pharmacy program has begun to attract a more international crowd. While the school offers a range of liberal arts programs (and mandates students take classes outside of their departments), the most intense academic

    workloads and competitive vibes can be found in its most prominent departments: music, music education, law, the sciences, and pharmacy. This isn’t your typical pajama-clad student body—even among its sizable commuter population, Duquesne students usually spiff up for classes. Greeks rule the social scene at Duq, but most of the action takes place off-campus. Duquesne provides free transportation to Pittsburgh hot-spots on the South Side and Strip District, and there’s always something to do on the nearby campuses of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon.

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  • Student Ratings

    1= Low/Not Active10 = High/Very Active
    8
    Professors Accessible  
    4
    Intellectual Life  
    8
    Campus Safety  
    4
    Political Activity  
    5
    Sports Culture  
    5
    Arts Culture  
    7
    Greek life  
    7
    Alcohol Use  
    4
    Drug Culture  

  • Additional Info

    Duquesne is the only "Spiritan" university in the world, having been founded by members of the Catholic Church's Congregation of the Holy Ghost (a.k.a. the Spiritans). When the school opened in 1878, it was called the Pittsburgh Catholic College. The school's early mission was to provide affordable higher education for the children of the local immigrant community, and they held classes on a shoestring budget in a rented room above a bakery in Pittsburgh. In 1885, Duquesne settled into its new campus on the Bluff overlooking Pittsburgh's South Side and started building up the school's infrastructure. The school changed its name to Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost in 1911. Since then, Duquesne has built on its offerings, adding new graduate and professional schools and improving student facilities on campus.

    Campus map: http://www.duq.edu/frontpages/main/map/DUQmapLG-072008.jpg Although it overlooks the city, Duquesne's medium-sized campus manages to create a collegiate, community environment. Once inside the gates, there is plenty of green space and quads. The Duquesne Union is at the center of campus, along with a number of older academic and library buildings. Several large parking garages are also close to the center, although students say they don't provide enough spots to alleviate the inevitable parking headaches. Many of Duquesne's newer additions, like the A.J. Palumbo Center, are further out, around the edges of campus. The Old Main Administration Building, once one of the tallest, most visible buildings on the Pittsburgh skyline, overlooks the Monongahela River.

    Duquesne's campus is on a bluff that looks out over Pittsburgh's downtown, the South Side, and the Monongahela River. The campus itself is fairly self-contained, although students only have to walk off-campus to reach the city area.

    With a significant portion of Duquesne's population getting involved in a frat or sorority, Greek Week is always a wild time on campus. Every spring, the Greek Carnival pits different Greek organizations against one another in a friendly competition to raise the most money for charity.

    Duq's coat of arms first appeared in 1923, and it's based on the arms of French naval hero the Marquis du Quesne, whose nephew was responsible for both building Fort Duquesne and bringing Catholicism to western PA. It's carved above the entrance to Canevin Hall.

    Founders Week celebrates honors Duq's Spiritan founders with a week-long slate of activities, events, and speakers.

    Dan Rooney (1955), owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

    Michael Hayden (1967), director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

    John Clayton (1976), writer and reporter for ESPN.

    Leigh Bodden (2002), NFL player for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions. He holds nearly every interception record at Duquesne.

    The Duquesne Dukes field Division I teams in the following varisty sports within the Atlantic 10 Conference: men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's cross-country, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor and indoor track and field, women's lacrosse, women's rowing, and women's volleyball. The varsity football team competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and wrestling is offered as an independent sport. While school spirit isn't particularly strong, students have been getting behind the recent winning ways of the men's basketball team, showing up in increasingly large droves to support the Dukes.

    Duquesne University is the only Spiritan university in the world.

    Duquesne's on-campus Energy Center, fueled by natural gas, creates nearly all of the electricity needed to power the school.

    Duquesne offers students a chance to study at its campus program in downtown Rome, near Vatican City.

    Duquesne has five residence halls and one apartment complex for students wishing to live on-campus. Residence halls include Assumption Hall (Duquesne's first dorm building), St. Ann's Hall (freshmen), St. Martin's Hall (freshmen), Vickroy Hall, Duquesne Towers (the largest, and also home to the Greek organizations), and Brottier Hall (a former apartment complex purchased by the university in 2004).