President Vincent Price announced Saturday that Duke will rescind its planned 3.9% tuition increase from last year.
Tuition will remain at the same rate as last year, $27,940 for a semester. The now-scrapped increase was approved in February by the Board of Trustees.
A number of student fees will also be reduced or waived depending on whether the student is in residence or studying remotely, Price wrote in an email to students and families.
Price also wrote that Duke is “prepared to make additional investments in financial aid,” acknowledging that some students who had not qualified for financial aid before the pandemic may need it now.
He encouraged students who need additional aid to contact the Karsh Office of Undergraduate Financial Support.
“Our routines have been disrupted and our expectations for the future continue to evolve,” Price wrote. “Nonetheless, wherever you are this semester, and in whatever form you join us, we will be united and resilient in facing the challenges ahead and advancing the Duke community.”
The announcement follows a petition asking the University to reduce tuition, which had received more than 4,000 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.
Senior Daniel Kim, who created the petition last Sunday, told The Chronicle Saturday that he collected 3,000 signatures within 24 hours of creating the call for action.
“The fact is that last year we were paying for in-person classes, a traditional social experience and extracurriculars, and this year we’re paying for a very different and limited experience,“ he said. “I think the response is the testament to the fact that Duke students feel the exact same way I do.”
Peer universities have also adjusted their costs for the upcoming academic year following student pressure. Williams College announced a 15% discount for tuition and room and board June 29 and Princeton announced a 10% tuition discount July 6. Georgetown followed suit July 21 with a 10% tuition cut.
Harvard announced July 6 that tuition will remain the same but is offering free summer courses to students who are fully remote for the upcoming year.
Below is the list of revised tuition and fees for the upcoming fall semester. Fees that are not listed will remain the same, Price wrote.
- Tuition: $27,940
- Student activity fee (residential): $104.50
- Student activity fee (remote): $21
- Student services fee (residential): $261.50
- Student services fee (remote): $52.50
- Recreation fee (residential): $81.25
- Recreation fee (remote): $0
- Student health fee (outside North Carolina but in the United States): $100
- Student health fee (remote, outside the United States): $0
Residential fees apply to students living on or off campus, except the recreation fee, which off-campus students will not have to pay, wrote Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in an email.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
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