Exempting Courses

Related Information

Exemption bulletins for individual Fuqua courses and the current exemption schedule.

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Exemption Information

Exemption FAQs



Core Course Exemption Overview

The core curriculum at Fuqua provides a foundation for graduate business education. Faculty members expect each student to gain this basic core of knowledge; however, many students may be qualified to exempt one or more of these core courses. If your undergraduate background or work experience has adequately covered core material, we strongly encourage you to exempt the core requirement and select an appropriate elective in its place.

You will not earn credit for a course you exempt; however, you will gain the opportunity to take additional elective courses, which may be particularly important in shaping your career transition and job search. Faculty members encourage you to take courses outside of your particular area of interest as a means of enhancing your career goals and broadening your educational experience.

2 types of core course exemptions available: administrative and by examination. You may receive an administrative exemption based on prior coursework or professional experience, or you may wish to demonstrate your knowledge by taking an exemption exam upon arrival at Fuqua.

You will be preregistered for the core curriculum. You do not need to do anything about registration before your arrival in August, except to apply for administrative exemptions. Exemption results will be sent to you via email. At that time, those of you who receive an exemption will be given instructions about finalizing your class schedule.

Some courses are restricted to exemption by exam only or by administrative exemption only. The Incoming Student Website's Action Items Checklist contains a brief summary of the exemption process and specific exemption guidelines for each core course.

Administrative Exemptions

The guidelines for obtaining an administrative exemption are unique for each course and will require specific documentation from you. The appropriate faculty member will review your request and decide from the following:

  • Grant an administrative exemption from the core course
  • Grant a conditional exemption and specify which course you must take in place of the core course
  • Deny administrative exemption request and encourage you to take the exam (if applicable)

All requests for administrative exemption should be emailed to registrar-info@fuqua.duke.edu or sent to the Fuqua Registrar, at the below address, by June 28, 2013, or as noted in the course guideline.

Fuqua Registrar
Duke University, Fuqua School of Business
100 Fuqua Drive 
Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120

If you are requesting multiple administrative exemptions, please send a separate letter (and copies of applicable transcript(s)) for each course you wish to exempt. Please compile into one mailing. Separate envelopes are not necessary.

There are no administrative exemptions for the following courses, which offer exemption by exam only:

  • Probability & Statistics (DECISION 610)


Exemption by Exam

You may take an exam during any of the time slots, but only one exam may be taken during a given time slot. You do not need to sign up or pre-register to take an exemption exam; simply show up at any of the given time slots. Exams may not be repeated.

There are no exemption exams administered for the following courses, which offer administrative exemptions only:

  • Foundations of Strategy (STRATEGY 835)


Exemption Exam Schedule

TBA