Merit Scholarships

HOW ARE THE FUQUA MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS DETERMINED?

Merit Scholarship recipients are selected by an Admissions Merit Scholarship Committee. Merit scholarships are awarded based on a candidate's overall profile. The criteria for selection are prior academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, community involvement, extracurricular activities, and professional accomplishments. These awards are for the duration of the degree program and range from partial tuition to full tuition.

The merit scholarship awards are made independent of determining a student's eligibility for student loans.

DOES FUQUA OFFER OTHER SCHOLARSHIP OR GRANT ASSISTANCE?

Merit scholarship awards are the only form of gift assistance offered by Fuqua.

Student Aid (i.e., Loans)

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BORROW FUNDS TO MEET THE COSTS OF ATTENDING FUQUA?

A variety of student loan programs are available to students enrolled at Fuqua. You are eligible to apply for a combination of federal and private alternative student loans to meet the cost of tuition, fees, books, and related living expenses as estimated in the Cost of Attendance.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A COST OF ATTENDANCE (COA)?

Federal regulations determine the types of expenses that can be factored in the Cost of Attendance (COA). The COA is established to cover only the student’s education-related expenses such as tuition & fees, room & board, course materials, and student living expenses over the entire nine-month enrollment period within an academic year.

Also, regulations require the university to use reasonable figures to establish the student living expense budget within the COA. The average living expense amounts are results from university-wide surveys completed by Duke students in graduate and professional programs. Triennially, students are surveyed on their monthly spending for living expense items such as rent, utilities, food (excluding outside dining), etc. In addition, the consumer price index rate is considered each year to account for inflation.

The COA regulates the total eligible student loan borrowing amount, allowing students to borrow only up to the total COA amount in any given academic year, minus other aid (i.e. scholarships, sponsorships, other student loans). The COA also serves as a guide to help students to budget within the overall living expense allowance. As students come to Fuqua from a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and resources, the student living expense budget allows for a relatively simple student lifestyle that demands a responsible approach to living as a student. Therefore, students are expected to seek housing (mainly shared housing) that does not exceed the allocated amounts for rent and utilities in the student expense budget, especially if students are applying for student loans to help cover living expenses.

HOW SHOULD I APPLY FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (i.e. Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Direct PLUS Loan)?

U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. residents requesting federal loan assistance must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Applicants are encouraged to complete the FAFSA prior to their admission decision. The Title IV code for The Fuqua School of Business is 002920. Usually, the FAFSA for an upcoming academic year is made available after October 1 of each year and should be completed with the federal tax returns filed prior to October 1 (e.g., the 2025-26 FAFSA would be completed with 2023 Federal Tax Returns). NOTE: The 2025-26 FAFSA will be available in December 2024. Several days after the FAFSA is completed and submitted, the Department of Education will send the FAFSA Submission Summary (formerly the Student Aid Report-SAR) to the applicant. Information in the FAFSA Submission Summary, including the Student Aid Index (SAI), helps our financial aid office to determine the applicant’s federal student aid eligibility. Please note that after March 1, we will access electronic FAFSA data to review federal student aid requests. Subsequently, we will email federal student loan aid offer notices to admitted and current students.

WHEN SHOULD I APPLY FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID?

Students requesting to be reviewed for federal student aid for the duration of the degree program must complete a FAFSA each academic year. We recommend completing the FAFSA as soon as federal tax information is available for the appropriate aid year.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FAFSA) IS COMPLETE?

Generally, we will begin to review federal student aid requests during March for the upcoming academic year. Approximately 1 week after FAFSAs are submitted, the Department of Education will provide the FAFSA Submission Summary. Subsequently, our financial aid office receives electronic FAFSA data, which is reviewed for accuracy and completeness. If additional information is needed from the student, our financial aid office will contact the student. If no additional information is required or after requested information is received and reviewed, we will proceed with emailing a federal student loan aid offer notice. If an applicant is admitted to Fuqua and have completed their FAFSA after March 1, it will take approximately 10 business days to receive a federal student loan aid offer notice. Once the student completes the required federal loan entrance counseling session and master promissory notes as instructed in the aid offer notice, it will take approximately 2-3 weeks for the Department of Education (the lender) to follow up with an approval notice/disclosure statement verifying loan approval.

HOW IS FEDERAL STUDENT AID AND ELIGIBLE OFFRED AMOUNTS DETERMINED?

Federal student aid eligibility is based mainly on income and assets that is provided on the FAFSA. The school’s cost of attendance and other aid resources (i.e. scholarships, sponsorships) that the student may receive are factored to determine the federal student aid offered amount.

ONCE MY FEDERAL STUDENT AID ELIGIBILITY IS DETERMINED, HOW MUCH AID CAN I EXPECT TO RECEIVE?

The financial situations of students vary greatly, so we cannot provide set amounts for what students can expect to receive. However, most students receive a combination of federal Direct Unsubsidized and Direct PLUS loan offers to help cover the cost of attendance.

WHEN CAN I EXPECT TO GET A RESPONSE FROM THE FINANCIAL OFFICE REGARIDNG THE FEDERAL STUDENT AID OFFER?

Students who have completed the FAFSA by the recommended processing date can expect a federal student aid offer notice at least 1 month prior to the start of the first Term within the academic year.

WHAT IS A FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN AID OFFER?

The student loan aid offer notice will provide a federal student loan offer as well as instructions on how to accept the offer and finalize the loan application process. Also, the loan aid offer notice provide available private alternative student loans as listed on Duke University's list of Private Loan Options.

I RECEIVED MY AID OFFER, BUT HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INFORMATION I RECEIVED.

First, we recommend that students read the general information and loan instructions included in the loan aid offer notice. If there are remaining questions, contact our financial aid office.

I RECEIVED MY LOAN AID OFFER, BUT NEED ADDITIONAL FUNDS.

Students must submit written requests and provide proper documentation to be reviewed for additional loan funds that exceed the school’s cost of attendance in writing. If the request is granted, students can apply for private alternative student loans to help cover the cost of attendance for the respective academic year. Please see the Duke University's list of Private Loan Options.

WHEN SHOULD I START CONTACTING LENDERS TO APPLY FOR PRIVATE ALTERNATIVE STUDENT LOANS?

Students who requested to be reviewed for federal student aid should contact private lenders after receiving the federal student loan aid offer notice. Since private alternative student loan programs are credit-based, students who anticipate borrowing private alternative student loans instead of federal student loans may consider contacting private lenders in early March to make certain that they are creditworthy loan borrowers for the upcoming academic year.

Private alternative student loan applications are completed and processed electronically. Students may visit a lender's website to apply for a loan. Subsequently, lenders will transmit loan request to our financial aid office, so the loan may be certified and processed electronically.

WHEN DO I REPAY MY STUDENT LOANS?

Students officially enter their loan prepayment after the end of the grace period (a deferred period before repayment begins) for each loan. Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans and PLUS loans carry a 6-month grace period that begins on the last day of enrollment (which is usually the date of graduation), the date that a student drops below half time, or the date a student withdraws from school. The grace period for the PLUS loan is granted by request only. The grace period for private alternative student loans may be 6-9 months, depending on the lender.

Before starting loan repayment, student borrowers should receive a repayment schedule from the lender of your student loans. This disclosure should inform the borrower of the total amount borrowed, the current interest rate, the monthly and total amount that should be paid over the repayment period of the loan.

I RECEIVED MY TUITION BILL, BUT MY STUDENT AID DOES NOT APPEAR.

Aid (i.e. loans, institutional scholarships) is scheduled to disburse to student bursar accounts no earlier than 10 days before the start of class for each semester. As a result, students receiving student aid from guaranteed sources (such as federal student loans/private alternative loans) only need to pay the amount of university charges (i.e., tuition, fees) that their aid does not cover. Students receiving aid can review their aid offer to determine disbursement amounts.

CAN I VIEW MY LOAN AID OFFER ONLINE?

Students can view their loan aid offer online through DukeHub, which is Duke University's Online Registration system that allows students to view their financial aid information and monitor student Bursar account activity. Access to DukeHub is gained by the use of a Net ID & password, which is automatically assigned to admitted students upon matriculation.

I AM RECEIVING TUITION ASSISTANCE FROM MY EMPLOYER OR SPONSOR. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY STUDENT AID?

Since employer/sponsored tuition assistance is considered an additional financial resource, it will likely affect the student loan eligible borrowing amount and any institutional scholarship offer.