The Board of Trustees approved a 4.5-percent tuition increase at its meeting Friday, bringing undergraduate tuition to $34,335 for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Together with room, board and other fees, the total cost of attendance will be approximately $45,121, up 4.6 percent from the 2006-2007 cost.
"It's a function of taking into consideration this sort of market basket of costs associated with an institution of this caliber and scope," said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
Tuition also increased by 4.5 percent for the 2006-2007 and 2004-2005 academic years.
In 2005-2006, it increased by 5.5 percent.
"There isn't a standard-we basically try to figure out what it will take to finance the quality of the education we're going to be offering," Burness said.
Tuition rates for all of Duke's graduate and professional schools have also risen for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Increases range from 4.3 percent for the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences to 14.6 percent for the School of Nursing.
The nursing school's increase-which brings its tuition to $32,400-will better align its cost with that of peer schools, Lange said.
Technology updates, faculty growth, facility expansion and financial aid are among the factors considered in establishing tuition rates, he added.
Support for aid increased in the 2006-2007 academic year, and is expected to increase again in 2007-2008, Provost Peter Lange said.
"We work to keep down our tuition increases and to enhance financial aid to meet students' full demonstrated need," Lange said in a statement.
Duke is more than a year into its three-year, $300-million Financial Aid Initiative, which has received $216 million in donations and pledges to date, including a $10-million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation received last week.
Burness said the figure is ahead of schedule.
Administrators also expect financial aid to be bolstered by this summer's launch of DukeEngage. The $30-million service learning initiative, announced earlier this month, offers full financial support to all undergraduates wishing to participate in civic engagement projects.
"Just doing DukeEngage will be the equivalent of a significant financial aid increase," Burness said.
He said the 4.5-percent hike is among the lower increases this year among most of Duke's peer institutions.
Princeton University announced in January that it would freeze its tuition for the first time in 40 years.
Duke officials said the University does not have the luxury of making a similar decision, however, and using its endowment to enact a tuition freeze would detract from other endeavors.
Final decisions on tuition levels will be approved at the Board of Trustees meeting in May.
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