What are merit scholarships worth?

In Wednesday’s editorial, we explored the value of athletic scholarships and their importance for recruiting exceptional athletes. Today, we consider merit scholarships and how they impact Duke’s academic and social culture.

One of the few elite universities in the country that has merit-based scholarships, Duke currently has nine programs that offer free tuition as well as room and board to scholars. Merit scholarships are valuable for three main reasons: they enrich the campus experience, boost Duke’s reputation and, most importantly, lure high-performing students away from Duke’s so-called competitor institutions and to the gothic wonderland.

However, if last year’s low yield for the Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship is evidence of a new trend, merit scholarships might be a less effective method of keeping Duke competitive with peer institutions than we may have thought. Only eight of the 22 accepted scholars matriculated in 2013—the year before,15 accepted. Alex Rosenberg, then director of the program, noted in an interview with The Chronicle that the scholarship, for the first time, was competing “not on financial value, but on the value of the program.” Princeton University, for example, offered to finance one of the potential scholar’s gap years. Armed with seemingly bottomless endowments, these institutions are well-positioned to offer benefits that negate the gravitational pull of Duke’s scholarships.

It is too early to tell whether the low yield is an anomaly or the start of a trend, but it presents an opportunity to reflect on the value of merit scholarships at Duke.

On campus, scholars can enrich the experiences of their fellow students. Selected for a broad range of achievements in academics, service and leadership, they bring diversity and insight to classrooms, labs, clubs and conversations around the dinner table. Merit scholars have also exhibited particular success in achieving post-graduate scholarships and other prestigious awards. In total, the A.B. Scholars program has produced 18 Rhodes Scholars, 13 Marshall Scholars and a Pulitzer Prize winner. Their success boosts Duke’s image, and their legacies remain plastered on the walls of Perkins Library for all prospective students to see. Merit scholarships thus enliven the campus culture in the short term and, in the long term, elevate Duke’s reputation. Although the scholarships raise some questions about equity—after all, all Duke students have proven themselves to be high-achieving by simply being admitted—we believe that they offer a net benefit to the University.

How then can Duke make its scholarship packages more attractive to incoming students? Outmatched in endowment and resources by schools like Harvard University, Duke cannot increase its financial offerings to potential merit scholars. Instead, we propose that Duke look to other, more innovative enrichment programs. The A.B. Scholars program, for example, awards a six-week study abroad program at the University of Oxford as well as up to $5,000 for research. Duke could increase the funding for research or provide funding for students seeking to take a gap year before entering college, a trend that is becoming increasingly popular.

Merit scholarships benefit the entire Duke community by weaving diversity and insight into the University’s academic and social fabric. Duke should look to new, innovative ways to differentiate itself and revitalize its scholarship programs.

The opinions in the daily editorial are formulated by 13 voting members of the board, who, as an independent group, are explicitly prohibited from writing or editing for other daily or weekly sections. Meet the Editorial Board.