Graduate education is becoming increasingly expensive. The economic hazards of venturing on a four-year course of doctoral study look forbidding indeed. A rough estimate of the total budget including tuition and fees (now $36,830 for 2008-2009) for a single student will be around $52,000.
A married graduate student without children will need around $55,000. Applicants should explore on their own every possible avenue of financial help. Some of the main sources of support are indicated below.
Students funded by Duke may count on support for five years at the level stipulated in the letter of fellowship award; sixth-year funding is not available, since it is expected that students will by then be able to help support themselves through teaching, precepting, or through the receipt of dissertation-level fellowships from sources other than the Graduate Program in Religion.
Fellowships
Employment
Loans
Fellowships
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Some fellowships administered from outside the University such as the Dempster and John Wesley Fellowships of the United Methodist Church, the Danforth Fellowship, the Pew Fellowship, and the Mellon Fellowship are available for graduate study. Duke students are also sometimes recipients of dissertation-year fellowships offered by the Charlotte Newcombe Foundation (a division of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Exchange Fellowship with the University of Pottsdam, the Fulbright Foundation, or the Social Sciences Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies. Under the auspices of the Fund for Theological Education excellent financial support is available for African-American doctoral candidates in religion. Some seminaries provide travelling fellowship awards to a selected few of their own graduates going on for doctoral studies. Some denominational boards of higher education have made grants to doctoral students in religion.
- he Graduate Program in Religion usually offers an annual Gurney Harris Kearns Fellowship, which covers tuition, fees, and a yearly stipend of $18,980. The George E. Norman Fund is another source of assistance. Students in religion are also eligible for nominations for James B. Duke Fellowships, which are renewable and worth above $59,000 a year, and for regular University fellowships and scholarships in lesser amounts. A very few Dissertation Fellowships and Named Instructorships are funded by the University; nominations for these are made through the Executive Committee of the Graduate Program in Religion. Approximately 98% of each entering class receives some aid which usually consists of support toward tuition plus a stipend. All awards are taxable.
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- Students interested in Judaic Studies may inquire about the Nathan J. Perilman Fellowship by writing directly to the Center for Judaic Studies, Department of Religion, Duke University, Box 90964.
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- Other programs and departments at Duke (such as the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program; the Latin American Studies Program; Foreign Language and Area Studies) offer fellowship assistance to students with appropriate areas of concentration. Usually these fellowships are supplementary to other funds the student may receive.
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Students who are post-prelim are also eligible to apply for two years for a limited number of fellowships of summer support that will include a $4000 stipend plus payment of required summer fees.
- Some funding is available through the Graduate School for post-prelim students to deliver papers at professional meetings.
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Some fellowships are available through the Graduate School to aid students who have special research needs, e.g., travel grants for archival research or field work.
Employment
Although most graduate students are admitted on the assumption of full-time study, they are permitted to hold part-time jobs in the University or the adjacent community up to the limit of 9-12 hours per week. If employment occupies more hours than this a student is urged to elect part-time status.
There are also some preceptorships and research and teaching assistantships open to doctoral students in both the Divinity School and the Department of Religion. Many graduate students and their spouses find employment in the area.
There are no graduate courses in religion in the summer term. Although students are often in residence doing research, many find it possible to supplement their incomes through summer employment.
Loans
Long-term loans at low interest rates are available in limited amounts and administered by the Student Loan Offices of the University. Inquiries should be addressed to the Graduate School Financial Aid Office, 116 Allen Building, Box 90061.
Loans may also be available from denominational boards of higher education and private banks. |
Procedures
