Open To

Ph.D. students in their sixth year who do not have external or departmental tuition and fee support and who sought, but did not receive, a scholarship that offers Duke tuition and fee support. See the Eligibility section for details.

As part of Duke’s ongoing commitment to support Ph.D. students, The Graduate School collaborates with Ph.D. programs to provide support for tuition and mandatory fees for students in their sixth year.

Ph.D. students in their sixth year who do not have external or departmental tuition and fee support for fall or spring semsters and who sought, but did not receive, a scholarship that offers Duke tuition and fee support for fall or spring are eligible to apply for the Sixth-Year Tuition and Fee Support Initiative via The Graduate School’s fellowship application platform.

Applicants must submit official documentation from the scholarship office or agency that indicates they applied for and did not receive a scholarship that would provide tuition and fee support for fall or spring. Application for awards that offer stipend only or conference/research travel support do not qualify. Copies of the denial notification are required as part of the application.

Awarded students will receive a payment to their Bursar accounts to cover tuition and mandatory fees for the semester for which the scholarships were awarded. This initiative does not include stipend support.

Timeline

Students must apply for this tuition and fee scholarship on a semester basis. Here are the deadlines to apply for the scholarship for upcoming semesters:

Fall Tuition Scholarship

  • Application period opens March 1 and closes March 31
  • Applicants must be in the fifth year of their doctoral degree, since initial date of matriculation, at the time of application.
  • Final decisions on tuition support for fall will be communicated to students and their departments in April

Spring Tuition Scholarship

  • Application period opens in early October and closes mid-November, during the main fellowship application cycle each Fall semester
  • Applicants must be in the 6th year of their doctoral degree, since initial date of matriculation, at the time of application.
  • Final decisions on tuition support for spring will be communicated to students and their departments in December.

Funding Source

Funding for the scholarship comes from the school in which a Ph.D. program is based. Each school determines how to provide this funding for its students. (For students in the Pratt School of Engineering, the funding for extensions comes from their Ph.D. programs.)

Eligibility

  • Applicants for a fall scholarship must be in their fifth year at the time of application in March
  • Applicants for a spring scholarship must be in their sixth year at the time of application in October-November
  • Applicants are not receiving tuition and fee support from any source for the semester for which they are applying for a tuition and fee scholarship.
  • Applicants must be in good academic standing.
  • Applicants must have passed their prelim prior to the semester in which the tuition scholarship will be awarded.
  • Applicants must have applied for, and were not awarded, a scholarship that provides tuition and fee support for one or more semesters for their 6th year, since initial date of matriculation.

To Apply

Eligible Ph.D. students should follow the instructions below. (For students in the Pratt School of Engineering, a separate process is used for funding extensions and you should discuss any needs with your director of graduate studies.)

You Need

  • Approval from your department (see step 1 below)
  • Your CV (PDF)
  • A copy of your current Duke Transcript from DukeHub (PDF)
  • A ONE-page narrative from applicant explaining the need for tuition support, including an explanation of their academic plans for the academic year and a proposed timeline to degree completion (PDF format).
  • Attached to the ONE page narrative should be documentation of external tuition and fee funding attempts, which can include copies of email notification, scan of denial letter from sponsor, etc. There is no page limit on this documentation (PDF format).

    Note: No letter of recommendation is required.

Steps

  1. Get approval to apply from your department. Check with your DGS.
  2. Submit your application through The Graduate School’s fellowship application system.

Frequently Asked Questions

Doctoral students who are in year in year 5 of their degree, since initial date of matriculation, in spring semester can apply for the Sixth-Year Tuition and Fee Scholarship for the upcoming fall semester during the May 15-31 application window in AwardSpring.

Doctoral students who are in the 6th year of their degree, since initial date of matriculation are, in fall semester are eligible to apply for the Sixth-Year Tuition and Fee Scholarship for the upcoming spring semester during the October-November application window in AwardSpring.

You should provide scans or copies of information on the award(s) to which you applied. The documentation needs to make it clear 1) that the award(s) would have provided Duke tuition and fee support for your 6th year, since initial date of matriculation, and 2) that you did not receive the award.

Such documentation can include a copy of the fellowship description from the sponsor’s website, a copy of the denial notification letter or email, etc. Awards that would not provide tuition and fee support, such as travel awards or stipend only awards, do not qualify.

A scholarship will be posted to your Bursar account to pay your tuition and mandatory-fees charge for fall or spring semester, depending on the semester the scholarship is awarded.

No. This scholarship is for the academic year only, i.e., fall and spring semesters.

Please see the Bulletin of the Duke University Graduate School, page 53 for a definition of academic standing for graduate students: https://registrar.duke.edu/sites/default/files/bulletins/graduate/20-21/index.html. 

The scholarship does not provide a stipend. Starting in fall 2020, this scholarship will cover mandatory fees in addition to tuition for the semester for which it was awarded. 

No. If awarded, a tuition and fee scholarship must be applied to the semester for which it was awarded.

No, if awarded, a tuition and fee scholarship must be applied only to the semester for which it was awarded and cannot be banked or deferred. You can apply for a spring semester tuition and fee scholarship when that application window opens in AwardSpring.

Please review our Find Funding webpage for additional information regarding funding opportunities. You can also contact The Graduate School’s financial aid office at grad-finaid@duke.edu.

More Funding Opportunities