The University is considering mechanisms to better equate the experiences of Duke students with stratified socioeconomic backgrounds.
Released in early February, Duke’s Socioeconomic Diversity Initiative report was commissioned in 2009 to address the issue of class difference and how it affects student life. The report, which was conducted by the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Office of Financial Aid, included the perspectives of 71 students of various financial backgrounds.
The students, ranging from legacy students paying the full Duke price tag to students with no parental contribution, came to similar conclusions regarding the prevalence of socioeconomic status differences at Duke.
“I don’t see this report as being the end of a process, but as the beginning,” said Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education. “Duke would be a better place if students felt more comfortable talking about socioeconomic differences.”
A large financial divide exists among students— almost a quarter of students come from families that make more than $300,000 a year, according to self-reported senior survey data compiled by the Office of Institutional Research from 2007 to 2009. Meanwhile, 43 percent of students received need-based financial aid in 2010-2011, According to the initiative’s report.
The comprehensive financial aid campaign of 2008 was successful in increasing the level of socioeconomic diversity on campus, but this diversity requires the administration to re-evaluate the role socioeconomic background plays in students’ lives, said Alison Rabil, assistant vice provost and director of financial aid.
The study’s recommendations largely involve changes to financial aid policy—some of which have already been adopted—though some of its recommendations could affect all students. It suggests that the University revise its policy about the summer savings expectation for students on financial aid and similarly suggests a change in the allocation of work-study earnings and hourly rates. Another recommendation—for all students—is to make the first-year dining plan more adequate.
Nowicki said he plans to form a group to examine how to best turn the report’s recommendations into policy before the end of the semester.
Other proposals emerging from the study include improving communication between institutions involved in financial aid, enhancing what financial aid covers and improving students’ financial literacy through a course program.
Students interviewed for the report recognized status differences in multiple facets of student life, ranging from the amount of possessions some freshmen brought to East Campus during move-in to which students participate in certain activities and programs, such as study abroad. Though some students make friends of other financial standings in class and in student organizations, the study found that most students’ friends come from the same socioeconomic status.
The report noted that the house model will facilitate more interaction among students of different financial statuses.
“One finding of the SDI is that students align in terms of membership of SLGs and social groups,” Nowicki said. “In the past, that has segregated students in terms of living in a house or pulling out a lottery number.”
Donna Lisker, associate vice provost of undergraduate education and one of the study’s project investigators, said most of the issues raised in the study can be achieved with small changes to current University policies and practices.
“There aren’t major issues that have to be addressed,” Lisker said. “It’s not like we went in and we found that we had two profoundly different worlds. What we found is a series of small differences and addressing those could certainly have an additive impact.”
Though the financial aid office has already implemented changes that will benefit students on aid, Rabil added that her office has many recommendations “to run with.”
“One of the things which we might not have tackled as well is, ‘How do we help students and their parents understand how financial aid works?’” Rabil said.
In light of the study’s findings, the financial aid office has instituted a series of reforms to provide more assistance to students on aid, such as covering course fees and paying for health services for students on aid. With the support from various schools and the Office for Undergraduate Education, the financial aid office will launch a financial literacy website geared toward all students. The website—launching April 1—is geared toward students graduating with debt, who are more often than not middle-income students, Rabil said.
‘They are going to be the students who are going to graduate with $10,000 to 20,000 worth of debt, and you need to know how to manage that well,” she said.
The study also identified that the dining experience is a “pervasive indicator of socioeconomic status difference,” especially for first-years. Students on financial aid expressed that they were restricted by the first-year meal plan because dining on West Campus was often too expensive for their food point allocation. Paying out of pocket to eat off campus was also challenging, students reported.
“It’s a status thing to be able to say you don’t eat at the Marketplace,” one student reported during the study.
Lisker noted that addressing dining issues is an example of one issue that will require significant collaboration to address.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.