How financial aid works at the graduate school

Duke and its peers know that an exceptional university requires exceptional graduate students-students who will not only pursue their own research, but also make substantial contributions to the work of the faculty. Though, of course, most twenty-something-year-olds could not begin to afford half a decade of graduate study, applicants to the Graduate School's PhD programs are not evaluated for need. Instead, Duke, like other top research universities, includes an offer of funding along with almost every offer of admission.

Virtually all of Duke's more than 1,900 PhD students have tuition, fees, and living expenses covered for a period of five to six years with a combination of scholarships, fellowship stipends, and assistantships. For graduate students who plan to pursue only a master's degree, Duke has much more limited funding. But again, this aid is not distributed based on need; rather, it is used to help attract the best students to Duke.

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