Photo: Alekjds (CC BY 4.0)
School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Duquesne University is a Catholic university in the Spiritan tradition, set on a bluff overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. It combines a genuinely urban location with a campus that still feels self-contained and residential, and a service-oriented mission runs through student life alongside its academic programs.
Academics
Pharmacy, nursing, music, and law are Duquesne's most recognized programs, each with its own established professional identity within the university. The Spiritan emphasis on service and social justice shows up in curriculum requirements and campus programming across majors, not only in theology courses.
Campus & student life
The bluff-top campus overlooks the city while still functioning as a compact, walkable, largely residential community — a contrast to a fully commuter urban school. Pittsburgh's downtown, cultural institutions, and other universities are a short walk or ride away, giving students an urban environment without sacrificing a traditional campus feel.
Getting in
Admission is holistic, with essays and demonstrated fit for the university's Catholic, service-oriented mission carrying real weight alongside academic record, though this varies by program — pharmacy and nursing have separate, more competitive tracks.
After graduation
Pharmacy and nursing graduates have strong regional placement given Pittsburgh's large health-care sector, and the law school extends the university's professional network into the region's legal community as well.
Worth knowing
Students considering pharmacy or nursing should know these are structured, sequenced programs with their own admission and progression requirements distinct from general university admission, worth researching before committing to that track specifically.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
duq.edu ↗High school coursework
Required4 units of English · 3 units of college-preparatory mathematics (including Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry) · 2 units of history · 2 units of laboratory science · 2 units of a second language (same language, including ASL) · additional academic electives, for a minimum of 16 total units
RecommendedFor competitive programs: 3-4 units each of science, history, and second language at the highest level available · up to 4 years of math with precalculus/calculus recommended for some programs · Applicants to Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, Pre-Medical, and Business: a year of calculus or precalculus plus AP Statistics
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