Durham, NC - Alison Rabil, the financial aid director at Barnard College since 2005, will become Duke University's assistant vice provost and director of financial aid on Nov. 1, Provost Peter Lange announced Tuesday.

Duke selected Rabil from among more than three dozen candidates following a national search by a university committee led by Steve Nowicki, the dean and vice provost of undergraduate education.

"We have chosen a superb new leader who will enhance Duke's long-standing commitment to recruit and select students on the basis of their individual ability and promise," Lange said. "Alison impressed all of us as a person with vision, energy and dedication to providing excellent service for students and families. We look forward to working with her to advance Duke's educational agenda and promote the full participation of aided students in all aspects of campus life."

Rabil, 43, succeeds James A. Belvin Jr., who in January announced plans to retire after serving as Duke's financial aid director for 32 years.

Rabil assumed her position at Barnard after serving previously as director of Columbia University's Office of Student Financial Planning. She also has held positions at the University of Washington and Common Cents New York, a nonprofit organization that manages service-learning programs for young people. Earlier in her career, she held financial aid positions at Columbia's graduate school and law school.

Rabil is a member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association. She has served on the financial aid planning committee for the Consortium on Financing Higher Education.

Working collaboratively with the provost, deans and other officials at Duke, Rabil will help shape goals and strategies for admissions, aid and student life. She will be responsible for undergraduate financial aid, student loan and work-study programs campuswide, among other duties.

"Alison is one of the best people in the country today thinking about how to make higher education affordable," Nowicki said. "She'll build on her outstanding work at Barnard and her national reputation to help Duke take its financial aid programs to the next level."

Rabil joins Duke as the university is completing a Financial Aid Initiative to raise $300 million in new endowment for financial aid. Launched by President Richard H. Brodhead in 2005 as one of his highest priorities, the initiative raised more than 80 percent of its goal by the end of 2007.

Duke is one of a limited number of universities with a "need-blind" admissions policy, which means all U.S. applicants are accepted regardless of their ability to pay, with Duke guaranteeing it will meet 100 percent of their demonstrated financial need. Financial aid packages combine grants, loans and work-study opportunities after assessing what parents and students can reasonably contribute.

More than 40 percent of Duke undergraduates receive need-based aid to help reduce their expenses. In 2007-08, the average need-based aid grant was about $26,700 out of a total cost of about $46,000 to attend Duke. For more than a decade, the percentage increase of Duke's financial aid support has far outpaced the percentage increase of tuition.

In December, the university announced it would expand its investment in need-based undergraduate aid by nearly $7 million a year, budgeting $86 million for need-based, merit and athletic financial aid for undergraduates during the 2008-09 academic year. It eliminated parental contributions for families who make less than $60,000 a year and made it possible for students from families with incomes below $40,000 to graduate debt-free.

To help relieve financial pressures on the middle class, Duke also reduced loans for students from families with incomes up to $100,000 and capped loans for eligible families with incomes above $100,000.

"Duke is committed to making a superior education financially affordable to all who earn admission," Rabil said. "I am excited to be a part of that commitment and of the team working to make this happen."

Rabil received her bachelor's degree from Barnard and three advanced degrees from Columbia University, including a doctorate of education. She and her husband David Klein, a writer, have two children.