Financial FAQs

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.

No, the Graduate School Financial Aid Office does not require or review the CSS Profile in order to offer aid. 

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 Duke's database of external funding.

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.

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.

If all federal financial aid requirements have been completed on your To Do List, and registration requirements are met, then your federal financial aid should go through approximately 10 days before the semester begins. The aid goes directly to your student account at the Bursar's Office and is applied to your balance first. From there if you are to be issued a refund then the Bursar's Office will process accordingly. For more information regarding your student account, or refund, please reach out the Bursar's Office directly or visit this site: https://finance.duke.edu/bursar/refunds.

See our Payment of Awards page for additional information.

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. Please complete the External Funding Intake Form to notify our office of any external funding as soon as possible: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8rezrvszHoz0F4G. 

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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Yes, please complete a new FAFSA form every year to be considered for Federal Financial Aid. Typically the new FAFSA form is available October 1st the year before classes begin.

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 well as Duke's database of external funding.

No, the Federal work-study program is an opportunity to work and it is not a guarantee of employment. Once you have received an offer of work study, please view more information and the list of positions here: https://financialaid.duke.edu/types-aid/work-study/#grads

No, students have their earnings deposited directly to their personal bank account or receive a paycheck.

For students who complete the FAFSA, please see the Federal Student Aid website's loans section.

For students pursuing private loans, you may borrow up to the cost of attendance if approved by your lender.

The Direct Loan Master Promissory note, or MPN, is good for approximately 10 years. First-year students who have not completed the MPN while enrolled at Duke will need to complete it before the start of the term.

Yes, if your financial aid exceeds the total charges for a semester, you will likely be eligible for a refund to use for other qualified cost of living expenses. Please note that the Bursar's Office (bursar@duke.edu) handles the refund process for all students.

If students rejected a portion of their loan assistance at the beginning of the year and decide later that they need those funds, they may request that the Financial Aid Office 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% 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. For more information on requesting additional funding for extenuating circumstances, contact the Graduate School financial aid office at grad-finaid@duke.edu and request professional judgment or visit this portion of our website and complete an application: https://gradschool.duke.edu/financial-support/subsidies-loans-and-other-financial-assistance/professional-judgment-review/,

Refund checks are typically issued during 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 approximately 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