Some tips for Duke TIP

The economic downturn has forced public schools across the country to reevaluate which programs to continue funding, and unfortunately for some of the brightest young minds, gifted and talented programs are being slashed. Such programs—which work to acclimate young students with advanced academic challenges and offer them an insight into university study at an early age—are an important component in gifted students’ learning process.

The Duke University Talent Identification Program strives to pick up the slack, however, and plans to expand its programs internationally and maintain high levels of participation domestically. Duke TIP—a “nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth”—offers opportunities and challenges students who have displayed advanced academic and intellectual abilities from grades four through 12.

The program’s decision to expand internationally—with potential new programs in Singapore and Kunshan, China—shows TIP’s well-founded dedication to delivering opportunities to children who may not speak English or otherwise encounter an American learning experience. According to the Duke TIP website, the program deems these challenges as significant factors that make it difficult to identify gifted international students. The two new programs follow the recently established Duke TIP in India, currently in its fourth year of existence, along with programs spread across Italy, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Beijing.

Already, a large percentage of each incoming undergraduate class has taken part in the TIP program—at Duke or elsewhere. Many students who visit campus to take part in the program eventually add Duke to their list of college choices, a fact that the administration acknowledges. Some of these students cite a familiarity with the campus, along with a bond to the University. For Duke TIP to keep its integrity, though, the program cannot be seen as a way to funnel the best and brightest into Duke lecture halls as undergraduates.

And although it is admirable that Duke TIP is leading the global charge, it is important that the program remain attentive to the needs of gifted students within the United States. In conjunction with institutions like the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University—another top talent identification program—Duke TIP’s independent mission must continue.

Amid expansion, it is also critical that Duke TIP consider making changes to its financial aid offerings in order to make the program feasible to all families, regardless of income level. Although Duke TIP offers financial aid for domestic programs, aid for international programs is limited. Such TIP programs require families to pocket the costs directly—reducing the amount of TIP families who can reasonably afford the cost of not only tuition but an international plane fare­—and therefore an international learning experience.

It is important that the program reconcile its goal of expansion with its pledge to reach gifted students from all backgrounds and socioeconomic classes. If Duke TIP is serious about opening itself entirely to underprivileged families, it is important that each and every program be made available to students, whatever the cost.