Duke Wants $300 Million

Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/373439.html

Boost to student aid would be small

Jane Stancill, Staff Writer

Duke University announced Thursday it would seek $300 million in donations for student financial aid during the next three years.

Duke has already raised nearly half of that amount, including $100 million to be used as matching money to encourage other donors to give.

The $300 million will be set aside in an investment fund, with annual earnings used to help offset costs for needy students.

The move should relieve pressure on Duke's annual budget and ensure the university's future commitment to an economically diverse student body, Duke officials said, although it is not expected to increase financial aid in a significant way.

Duke President Richard Brodhead outlined the plan Thursday night at a private celebration at the Washington Duke Inn attended by more than 300 Duke scholarship students, donors and trustees.

The fund-raising effort seeks $245 million for undergraduate aid, including $15 million for athletic scholarships, and $55 million to support graduate students.

Brodhead could not be reached Thursday, but in an October speech to faculty, he said the university's commitment to financial aid "is our chief way of ensuring that we select and recruit students on the grounds of ability, dedication and promise alone, not on family circumstances."

If the effort is successful, a total of $1 billion, or one-quarter of Duke's total endowment, will be reserved for financial aid in the future.

John Burness, a senior vice president at Duke, said financial aid was the fastest-growing component of the university's budget. Last year, Duke spent about $129 million on financial aid.

About 40 percent of Duke's undergraduates receive need-based aid from the university in "packages" that consist of grants, loans and work that average about $28,000. Of that, $21,000 is in outright money from the university.

The cost of a year at Duke for undergraduates who live on campus now tops $41,000.

Paul Haagen, a law professor and chairman of the Academic Council, said Duke would increasingly face "awkward tradeoffs" if it did not raise more money for financial aid. Duke has a "need-blind" admissions policy, which means it admits students without regard to their ability to pay.

Haagen said there was widespread support for the effort. "We regard it as a kind of critical moral commitment," he said.

A recent column in the Chronicle student newspaper criticized the plan for merely replacing money in Duke's operating budget rather than expanding financial aid.

But graduate student Kadia Edwards, 23, reacted with excitement when she heard the news Thursday. "I just think it's excellent the school realizes students need this financial aid more than anything else," said the divinity school student. "They're trying to keep kids in school."

In October, Duke received a $75 million gift from The Duke Endowment, a Charlotte-based charitable trust established by Duke University founder James Buchanan Duke in 1924. The gift for financial aid was the largest in the endowment's 81-year history and the largest received by Duke University for any purpose.

At Thursday's event, the university recognized another four gifts totaling $25 million for matching funds. One was from alumnus, Durham native and trustee chairman Robert K. Steel and his wife Gillian.

Staff writer Jane Stancill can be reached at 956-2464 or janes@newsobserver.com

 

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