Student Experience
At Duke, the best and brightest students arrive at a place of possibility. We work to build a community that supports them at every step of their journey. Through the highest standards of academic excellence and by removing financial barriers to level the playing field, we are creating an environment where every student can become their best self.
How are we doing?
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Our vision
We’re preparing future leaders by unlocking the potential of tens of thousands of first-generation college students; ensuring human differences are settled by collaboration, not conflict; and creating the climate leaders our planet needs.
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Our progress
Raised more than
$730M
to ensure student success, belonging and opportunities to take advantage of the best of Duke.
Students in Action
Today’s Duke students are tomorrow’s innovators, physicians, entrepreneurs, artists and global leaders. With the support of philanthropy, Duke is attracting extraordinary students from every background—students whose talent and drive can find their match at Duke. Learn more about these students who are shaping our future in ways we are only beginning to imagine.
Clark Easley
When Clark Easley arrived at Duke from Schaumburg, Illinois, he wondered whether a student from a middle-income background would fit in at a university he associated with prestige and privilege. As a financial aid recipient and Robertson Scholar, the public policy major quickly found a welcoming community through Project BUILD, where he built lifelong friendships and a deep connection to Durham. Now the program’s director, Easley has also pursued oral history research on apartheid and athletes in South Africa and hopes to attend law school before building a career in public policy advocating for marginalized communities.
Kimberly Samboy
For Kimberly Samboy, attending Duke was only possible because of a full financial aid scholarship. From Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, she has found both opportunity and belonging through faculty mentorship, student leadership and service. Her passion for policy, communications and storytelling led to an internship with the Dominican Republic’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, where she gained firsthand diplomatic experience.
Bea Hardacre
When Bea Hardacre traveled to Eswatini in Southern Africa through DukeEngage, she expected to help build a water sanitation system. Instead, she discovered that the most meaningful work happened through partnership—working alongside local community members and fellow engineering students from Duke, learning as much from the people she served as they learned from her. Her experience reflects DukeEngage’s mission of preparing students to become collaborative leaders by working with communities to create lasting change.
J.P. Goodwin
Public policy major J.P. Goodwin always knew he wanted to go to Duke. Born in Durham, he experienced early on how special the Duke community was. His parents were committed to making J.P.’s dream come true, but financial aid allowed the entire Goodwin family to truly start the Duke journey. As a manager for the Duke men’s soccer team, a member of Duke’s jazz band, a resident assistant and a public policy major, J.P. began to see the through-line of leadership. This past year, he interned for Congress through Duke in DC, where he gained firsthand exposure to policymaking and public service, connecting his classroom studies with the institutions and people shaping national policy. Together, these experiences have strengthened his skills in teamwork, leadership and service while preparing him for a future career in law and public policy.
A student experience made only at Duke
Making a Duke education more accessible
The Carolinas Initiative is the most ambitious undergraduate financial aid program in the university’s history. A signature component of a $100 million gift from The Duke Endowment, the initiative provides full tuition for students from North and South Carolina with family incomes of $150,000 or less. The initiative covers tuition, housing, meals, and other essential expenses for those with family incomes of $65,000 or less, all without student loans. By removing financial barriers at an unprecedented scale, Duke is ensuring more of the region’s most talented students can choose Duke and graduate ready to lead.
Duke’s first Truman Scholar supported by DukeLIFE
Duke senior Ari Cook became the university’s first Truman Scholar, a program for students pursuing careers in public service that provides up to $30,000 for graduate school. DukeLIFE—a hub of support for first-generation and lower-income students that provides resources such as tutoring, mentoring, and professional development as well as assistance with course materials, internship opportunities, and emergency financial needs—helped fund Ari’s travel to Kansas for her Truman interview, ensuring the expense would not create a financial burden for her.
$36M
raised to support first-generation, lower-income students through DukeLIFE.
100 years of The Duke Endowment leading the way
In 2024, The Duke Endowment and Duke University celebrated their shared centennial, marking a century since James B. Duke signed the Indenture of Trust on December 11, 1924 to establish both organizations. To mark the event, The Duke Endowment made one of its most significant investments in its history, a $100 million Centennial award, in addition to other grants across Duke University and Duke Health.
$736M
given by The Duke Endowment in support of campaign priorities.
Full immersion through friendship and familiarization
Experiential Orientation introduces all undergraduate students to the Duke experience. In their first week at Duke, students dive into the university community through theme-based orientation groups that emphasize interaction, mentorship from advanced undergraduates, and fun. Students complete projects together, take field trips, learn about campus and Durham resources, and make meaningful relationships. Experiential Orientation instills undergraduates with a sense of belonging and promotes well-being. Philanthropy helps this program provide the strongest possible start for new Blue Devils.
Building a pipeline of future STEM leaders
With support from the Sloan Foundation, The Graduate School developed the Duke University Center for Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM). A collaboration between The Graduate School and individual STEM graduate programs, the UCEM works to develop robust leadership in the future STEM workforce, enabling the U.S. to maintain its leadership role in research and development. To date, the UCEM has supported more than 60 Ph.D. students from underrepresented groups in the physical sciences and engineering. Additional private philanthropy will allow us to continue investing in future STEM leaders through this proven program.
Navigating and thriving in a pluralistic world
Fueled by a $2 million award from The Duke Endowment, the Provost’s Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry and Belonging creates new opportunities for student, faculty and staff learning across the university. Programs, speakers and visiting scholars help students conduct constructive conversations across diverse perspectives and faculty better support student skill development.
$7M
to expand arts experiences at Duke and in the Durham community.
East meets west
Athletics
A combined multi-million-dollar gift from longtime Iron Dukes members Karen King ’94 and Gayla Compton established the King-Compton Families Athletics Directorship Endowment, funding Duke’s vice president and director of athletics position in perpetuity. The investment strengthens Duke Athletics’ leadership and ensures a lasting ripple effect across Duke University, advancing the experience of student-athletes, alumni, fans and the broader university community.
Divinity
Duke Divinity School’s Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative is preparing a new generation of health care leaders to care for the whole person. Through innovative dual-degree and certificate programs that unite medicine, theology and ethics, the initiative equips future physicians and clinicians to pair clinical excellence with compassion, moral leadership and spiritual care—an interdisciplinary approach made possible through the generosity of donors who invest in Duke’s vision for health care education.
$30M
Garden Gateway project at Sarah P. Duke Gardens completed in 2026
Duke Graduate School
An $8 million award from The Duke Endowment was used to create three new Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Collaboratives (IGECs) designed to prepare Ph.D. students to address complex societal challenges. The collaboratives will bring together programs across the sciences, humanities, engineering and social sciences, giving students opportunities for interdisciplinary research, mentoring, specialized courses and professional development. The first three collaboratives launched this fall semester.
Fuqua School of Business
A $5 million award from The Duke Endowment sparked an additional $12.8 million in donor support, generating $17.8 million to strengthen faculty excellence and student opportunity at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. The combined investment is creating new endowed professorships and scholarships that will help Fuqua attract world-class scholars and exceptional students, fueling innovation and leadership in business for years to come.
Duke School of Law
A renewed $5 million gift from Derek Wilson ’86, M.B.A. ’90, P’15 and the Wilson Foundation is sustaining the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, strengthening its role as a national leader in evidence-based criminal justice reform. By advancing interdisciplinary research, informing public policy and providing students with hands-on experience tackling real-world legal challenges, the center is helping create a fairer and more effective justice system.
$50M
in gifts and grants is transforming Lilly Library into a modern hub for learning and collaboration, set to reopen in January 2027.
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke’s new Master in Business, Climate, and Sustainability brings together the Fuqua School of Business and the Nicholas School of the Environment to prepare leaders who can translate climate science into business strategy. By combining expertise in business, climate and analytics with hands-on industry experience, the pioneering program equips graduates to help organizations navigate climate risks and drive sustainable innovation across the global economy. The launch of this exciting new program was made possible by generous donors and stands with earlier philanthropic investments made to advance the Nicholas School’s curriculum on business sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship.
School of Nursing
The school received a $2 million grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to support student scholarships for its new Master of Nursing (MN) program. This accelerated four-semester pre-licensure program will replace the traditional accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. This gift enables the school to award 16 total scholarships; the first cohort of Kenan Scholars started in the spring of 2026.
School of Medicine
With a transformative $7.6 million planned gift, Edmund Joseph Wise Jr. B.H.S.’74 is giving back to the Duke Physician Assistant Program that inspired his calling. For more than 50 years, Wise has carried lessons from the program with him throughout a distinguished career in health care, education, and professional leadership. His gift will establish a scholarship endowment and provide equipment, creating both immediate and lasting impact for students in the Duke PA program.
Pratt School of Engineering
The next generation of Duke engineering students will have the opportunity to pursue research and innovation with a global impact thanks to an $11 million gift from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation. The investment strengthens the program, which prepares future innovators and entrepreneurs to solve real-world problems while fostering a lifelong commitment to service and giving back. Philip Liu ’22, a graduate of the Clark Scholars Program, says the opportunity gave him the ability to focus on academics, leadership and career preparation instead of financial concerns. Today, he leads AI product strategy at NBCUniversal, illustrating how such support can help launch the next generation of innovators. This gift brings the total support by the foundation for the Clark Scholars program to more than $30 million since establishing the program in 2017.
Sanford School of Public Policy
A $5 million gift from Caryn Seidman-Becker P’27, P’30, will establish the Becker Government Leadership Initiative at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, creating a first-of-its-kind program to prepare undergraduates for careers in federal public service. By providing mentorship, experiential learning and sustained support from a student’s first year through graduation, the initiative will help develop the next generation of principled public servants equipped to lead at the highest levels of government.
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
A transformative $10 million gift from Beth York Schiff ’81, J.D.’85 and Jim Schiff ’81 is expanding support for Duke’s nationally recognized humanities programs while ensuring their impact for generations to come. The investment advances innovative undergraduate education, interdisciplinary research, and faculty and graduate student excellence, while establishing the Schiff Family Dean of Humanities & the Arts—the first named divisional deanship in Trinity College. By strengthening the humanities, the gift ensures that critical thinking, ethical leadership, and a deeper understanding of the human experience remain central to a Duke education.
