Determining Your Need
Financial aid eligibility is based on a family's demonstrated need, which is the difference between the cost of attendance and the expected family contribution:
Cost of Attendance
- Family Contribution
Demonstrated Need
Once you understand demonstrated need, we invite you to check out how we build your award.
2013-2014 Estimated Cost of Attendance (Student Budget)
| Tuition & fees | $45,620 |
| Room | $6,354 |
| Board | $5,850 |
| Books & personal expenses** | $3,580 |
| Transportation | dependent upon home address |
| Estimated Cost of Attendance* | $61,404 |
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* NOTE: The Estimated Cost of Attendance (Student Budget) is our best approximation of what each student at Duke will need to cover basic expenses. A standard student budget is assigned to every enrolled student. **The budget for books represents a weighted average of the costs for students studying in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and the Pratt School of Engineering. Depending on the student's course of study, the actual book budget will vary from the amount shown above. |
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Additional information on how housing, dining, transportation, health insurance and course fees affect your cost of attendance is available here.
The Expected Family Contribution
Duke's philosophy is that the student and both parents have a responsibility to help with the cost of college.
We use an institutional formula to calculate an expected family contribution (EFC) for each Duke family. This formula takes into account a family’s income and assets (including savings, investments, and other real estate, but not retirement assets) and makes allowances for living expenses, the number of children in college, the amount paid for younger siblings in private school, unusually high medical expenses, state and federal taxes.
If parents are divorced or separated, both parents need to submit financial information. We will calculate a separate contribution for each parent and add them together to determine an Expected Family Contribution.
Duke expects no parent contribution ($0) for domestic families with typical assets and a total institutionally determined income under $60,000.
The student portion of the Expected Family Contribution is based on the expectation that each student will work during the summer to invest in their own education. This Summer Earnings Expectation is included in every student's Expected Family Contribution and is based on the number of years of higher education the student has received. This year's Summer Earnings Expectation is outlined in the table below:
2013-2014 Summer Earnings Expectation
| First Year | $2,100 |
| Sophomore | $2,400 |
| Junior | $2,500 |
| Senior | $2,600 |
Click here to estimate your expected family contribution.