See our Cost to Attend page.

Financial aid is money that is given, paid, or loaned to you to help pay for your college. There are several types of financial aid for Duke graduate students:

• Grants, fellowships, and scholarships: Given as awards and do not require repayment. Some grants may require students to assume training roles. Departments may nominate PhD applicants for competitive, merit-based fellowship awards provided by The Graduate School. Some graduate students also receive external fellowships from either private or governmental sources. Students are strongly encouraged to pursue these funding opportunities.
• Loans: Borrowed from a lending institution. You are required to repay the loans with interest and loan related fees. Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Direct Plus Loans are available to graduate students.
• Federal work-study employment: On-campus employment that allows you to earn money for your education and living expenses.

Depending on your eligibility, financial aid can be used to pay educational expenses including tuition and fees, books and supplies, food, housing, transportation, and some personal expenses while you attend Graduate School.

For external scholarships, check our Find Funding database, as well as the Graduate and Professional Student Funding page on the Office of Research Support website.

Assistantships require some form of training role (generally teaching or research), usually in the range of 15–20 hours per week. Fellowships require no training roles. Fellowship awards of tuition and fee payments are generally posted directly to the students’ bursar accounts.

Fellowships are reportable as income with the exclusion of tuition, fees, books, and equipment. The university does not have tax withholding requirements for fellowships, although students may choose to have taxes withheld. The University does withhold taxes on assistantships, and the student receives a W2 form for tax reporting purposes. IRS publication 970 (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/) is the official word on taxation of fellowships and assistantships.

No. Federal work-study is an opportunity to work. It is not a guarantee of on-campus employment.

No. Students have their earnings deposited directly to their bank account or receive a paycheck.

A tax return transcript shows most line items from your tax return (Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ) as it was originally filed, including any accompanying forms and schedules. In most cases, your transcript includes all the information a lender or government agency needs. It does not show any changes that you, your representative, or we made after you filed. Check with your financial institution to make sure a tax return transcript will meet their requirements. The tax return transcript is free and is generally available for the current and past three years.

We can also provide a tax account transcript. The tax account transcript, which is also free, shows basic data from your return, including marital status, type of return filed, adjusted gross income, and taxable income. It also includes any adjustments you or we made after you filed your return. Like the tax return transcript, the tax account transcript is generally available for the current and past three years.

See our Payment of Awards page.

Students are ultimately responsible for payment of charges posted to their bursar account, regardless of the nature or source of their funding. Therefore, students should read and check their bills carefully to ensure that both charges and scholarship payments are correct. Students should be aware that some charges billed through the Bursar’s Office cannot be paid by departmental awards and must be paid directly by the student. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, library fines for lost books, late registration fees, and charges for parking permits and traffic tickets.

If, after reviewing your bill, you believe an error has been made either in charges or fellowship payments of tuition and fees, please address these questions to the director of graduate studies assistant in your department. Failure to pay your bursar account balance in a timely manner can result in late payment penalties, registration blocks, and potentially withdrawal from The Graduate School.

Need-based federal financial aid is available for eligible students in the form of Federal Stafford Loan—unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Direct Plus Loan, and federal work study. While there is no formal deadline for loan requests, the loan process takes two to three weeks. Students should take this processing time into consideration and should email grad-finaid@duke.edu with loan questions or requests.

Graduate students are eligible for federal direct loans as long as they are actively enrolled in a degree-granting program.

There is no federal financial aid for international students at the graduate level at Duke. All international students should make arrangements for their college financial obligations before coming into the country.

The financial aid year runs from July 1 to June 30.

In accordance with federal regulations, financial aid awards may be reduced based on withdrawal dates. Tuition refunds are calculated independently from financial aid award (or return) calculations. Official course withdrawal requests must be submitted to the appropriate academic advisor either in person or in writing.

Most awards are based upon full time enrollment. If you drop classes during the add/drop period, the financial aid office will adjust your financial aid to the appropriate enrollment level. You may be required to repay the difference between the full-time aid amount and the adjusted amount. If you must fully withdraw for a semester, the financial aid officer is required to recalculate your financial aid eligibility. You may be required to repay a portion of your aid back to Duke University through your bursar's account. You should notify the financial aid officer if you reduce your enrollment after your aid is disbursed.

We will measure your academic progress at the end of each semester. Financial aid recipients are expected to adhere to the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, Section 11.

It is possible that outside aid could affect the amount of federal aid a graduate student receives. Send copies of any scholarship awards to the Office of Budgets and Finance so that your financial aid can be re-evaluated. Your award will be adjusted if necessary, and you will be notified if there are any changes.

Domestic students will need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).The FAFSA is required for any need-based loan program. Graduate and professional students are considered independent for financial aid purposes, so parental income information is not required.

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For domestic students, if you expect to receive federal student loans or federal work study, the answer is yes, even if your income does not change dramatically.

Verification is a random quality-control method used by the US Department of Education to check the accuracy of information submitted on the FAFSA. All schools that disburse Federal Title IV Funds are required to participate in the verification process. The verification process is a manual review of your application and requires a minimum of two to three weeks for processing. For more information on the verification process, contact our financial aid officer at grad-finaid@duke.edu.

A tax return transcript shows most line items from your tax return (Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ) as it was originally filed, including any accompanying forms and schedules. In most cases, your transcript includes all the information a lender or government agency needs. It does not show any changes that you, your representative, or we made after you filed. Check with your financial institution to make sure a tax return transcript will meet their requirements. The tax return transcript is free and is generally available for the current and past three years.

Duke can also provide a tax account transcript. The tax account transcript, which is also free, shows basic data from your return, including marital status, type of return filed, adjusted gross income, and taxable income. It also includes any adjustments you or we made after you filed your return. Like the tax return transcript, the tax account transcript is generally available for the current and past three years.

For external scholarships, check our Find Funding database, as well as the Graduate and Professional Student Funding page on the Office of Research Support website.

It is possible that outside aid could affect the amount of federal/institutional aid a graduate student receives. Send copies of any scholarship awards to the Office of Budgets and Finance so that your financial aid can be re-evaluated. Your award will be adjusted if necessary, and you will be notified if there are any changes.

No. Federal work-study is an opportunity to work. It is not a guarantee of on-campus employment.

No. Students have their earnings deposited directly to their bank account or receive a paycheck.

Graduate students can borrow up to $20,500 in a given academic school year in a Direct Lending Unsubsidized Loan. Depending on credit approval, they can also borrow up to the cost of attendance budget in a Direct Lending PLUS loan.

The Master Promissory Note is good for ten years in most instances.

All graduate or part-time students must complete the Master Promissory Note for the Unsubsidized Loan at www.studentloans.gov.

Cost of attendance includes non-direct costs such as living expenses. The amount is based on averages. Living expenses for students enrolled for less than half-time status will be prorated.

If students rejected a portion of their loan assistance at the beginning of the year and decide later that they need those funds, they can request that the Office of Budget and Finance reinstate their originally offered loan amounts. Students may be required to complete additional loan applications or documents depending on the loan type. If students accepted 100 percent of the aid they were offered in their financial aid award, they are generally not eligible to receive additional funding unless they can document extenuating circumstances (e.g., medical bills not covered by insurance). For more information on requesting additional funding for extenuating circumstances, contact the Graduate School financial aid officer (grad-finaid@duke.edu) and request professional judgment.

Professional judgment is a process where The Graduate School financial aid officer considers a student’s special circumstances and potentially makes adjustments to his or her expected family contribution for educational expenses, standard budget, or financial aid dependency status, as determined by federal guidelines. Adjustments must be reasonable and documented, and the institution is held accountable for decisions made. | More information about professional judgment (PDF).

Federal direct loan payments are deferred until six months after graduation or a drop in enrollment to less than part-time. For questions about repayment, contact Direct Loan Servicing at 1-800-848-0979. Private education loans have may have varying repayment terms.

If you are enrolled at least part-time as a graduate, your enrollment information will be sent through a clearinghouse to all lending parties involved. If you re-enroll into a program after a leave of absence, you may need to fill out an enrollment verification form available on the University Registrar website and send it to the US Department of Education or American Education Services. Enrollment verfications can be requested through DukeHub, forms and resources, enrollment verfications.

Refund checks will be issued beginning with the first week of class. Monitor your DukeHub account daily.  When “Refund to Student” transaction description is listed  on your account, you can expect to see the refund to the designated direct deposit account within 3 to 5 business days from the date of the transaction. Students who do not have direct deposit established with the Bursar’s Office will have a check mailed to the address listed in DukeHub.

Important Contact Information

• Duke University Bursar’s Office: www.bursar.duke.edu
• Duke University Registrar’s Office: www.registrar.duke.edu