​Doing more financially with less

Last Friday, Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, joined other administrators to reemphasize Duke’s focus on increasing socioeconomic diversity in its student body. While administrators often mention that 45 percent of students receive financial aid and the merits of no-cost initiatives like DukeEngage and 1G programs, it is important to discuss a large contributor to socioeconomic homogeneity at Duke: financial aid and loan policies that lag behind those of some of our peer institutions.

Duke, although consistently ranked near the top across rankings, falls behind 13 other top schools when ranked by proportion of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants. While this percentage is not a perfect measure of economic diversity and Duke has made progress in other ways, experts take it as an indicator of how present low-income students are on campus. Against this backdrop, Princeton became the first university to implement a no-loan program in 2001, replacing loans with grants. Since then, many other Ivy League schools, the University of Chicago and others have followed suit with Stanford announcing the extension of its no tuition policy to families making less than $125,000.

Duke administrators have cited our endowment as prohibitive for similarly generous policies, and commonly, students assume that a large endowment enables a university to have these programs. The truth however is that creating our annual budget is a complicated process that juggles a lot of obligations and constraints. Simply put, money is tight. But if socioeconomic diversity is truly an administrative focus, Duke must become able to make competitive financial aid offers to low-income admitted students torn between becoming Blue Devils and enrolling at more affordable schools. The University, then, must foster a community of future donors and benefactors who are interested in making these programs a reality at Duke.

We do not mean to view current students merely as future donors or to address wealthy alumni but to point out the need for understanding our duties to the University. We here consider the big picture of what Duke emphasizes in financial initiatives like Duke Forward. We can encourage students to think about experiences they are enjoying and the connections to what makes them possible.

Taking a broad approach, Duke should look to improve on-campus experiences and better connect students to how programs are created and the role alumni play on campus life. Improved resource offerings, housing options, 1G and low-income initiatives, post-grad career placement and overall quality of life for all students strengthens the University-alumni bond long after diplomas have been framed. Experiences students can point to as a result of a benefactor's generosity brightens future retrospection. The Iron Dukes program and its success in drawing donations for our athletic programs serve as a great blueprint for form. The incredible experience of winning the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship and our many other successes in athletics that give us communal feelings of pride, unity and excitement no doubt motivate alumni to give specifically to the athletics programs.

Although benches are not burned to celebrate academic success and high graduation rates among first generation students, we believe that feelings of pride and unity should not be confined to Cameron or the here and now of campus. It will likely take years for donations allocated to financial aid to reflect today’s actions, but in the mean time, making donor efforts visible on campus and leveraging them into the best range of experiences possible at Duke will pay dividends for the University and for students now and for generations to come.