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Duke Trustees Approve 2008-09 Budget

Budget includes $86.4 million - “ an 18.8 percent increase from 07-08 -- to support and significantly enhance Duke's undergraduate financial aid program.

The Duke University Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a $2.0 billion budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year beginning July 1.

The budget includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, but excludes Duke Hospital and other components of the Duke University Health System, which are budgeted separately.

The new budget includes a current fund operating budget of about $1 billion, other operating funds of about $400 million, and sponsored funds -- such as those awarded by the government for research projects -- of about $600 million.

Revenues in the FY 08/09 budget are about 9.1 percent higher than those budgeted for the current fiscal year, while expenditures are budgeted to increase 9 percent.

The new budget also includes a previously announced 4.8 percent increase to $47,985 in the standard total for undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board, and significant enhancements for student financial aid.

Duke admits U.S. undergraduates based on their academic accomplishments and potential without regard to their ability to pay and then meets all of their demonstrated financial need. Only about two dozen private institutions in the nation maintain "need-blind" policies for admissions and financial aid.

Duke also provides need-based aid to a limited number of international students. In January, Duke announced a $20 million gift to endow expansion of the university's financial aid support for international students.

Approximately 45 percent of undergraduates receive financial support to attend Duke; about 40 percent receive need-based aid. The annual average need-based grant to a financial aid recipient for the 2006-07 academic year - -- the most recent year for which final totals have been calculated -- was about $25,000.

The new budget includes $86.4 million - -- an 18.8 percent increase from the 07-08 budget -- to support and significantly enhance Duke's undergraduate financial aid program. These enhancements include eliminating the parental contribution for families with incomes less that $60,000; eliminating loans for families with incomes less than $40,000; reducing loans for students from families with incomes up to $100,000 and capping loans for eligible families with incomes above $100,000. Officials estimate the new financial aid program will benefit nearly 2,500 undergraduates from lower- and middle-income families.

Duke also offers a small number of endowed merit scholarships, and in 2008-09 will increase the value of these scholarships from full tuition to an amount that covers tuition, fees, room and board. In addition to the enhancements to undergraduate aid, the graduate and professional schools plan to boost their financial aid programs by providing additional scholarships starting in the fall. In December 2005, Duke announced a three-year Financial Aid Initiative to raise $300 million in new endowment funds to strengthen its financial aid programs for students. As of May 5, $272.5 million has been raised.

Income from tuition and fees from Duke's eight schools and Trinity College will account for 25.5 percent, or $510 million, of the revenues. An additional $753.5 million in revenue is projected to come from grants and contracts, including indirect cost recoveries of $187 million, which cover about 70 percent of the costs Duke incurs to provide the infrastructure to support research. Other revenues of $731.7 million will come from gifts, investment income and other sources.

On the expense side of the budget, salary and benefits will increase by $92.4 million, or 8.9 percent, over the current year's budget, which includes the hiring of new faculty and staff.

The budget also includes support for academic priorities as developed through Duke's strategic planning process. These priorities include faculty support and development; strengthening academic, interdisciplinary and research initiatives; new curricular and student-life efforts; and providing facilities and technology resources that students need to succeed. The budget also provides support for the arts and for community initiatives such as the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.

"The budget does a great job of supporting the university's values and priorities," said Provost Peter Lange, the university's top academic official. "It provides the support needed to continue strengthening our faculty, using innovative hiring processes to attract and retain the finest faculty in areas of strategic priority.

"It also makes it possible for any outstanding undergraduate to attend Duke, regardless of his or her ability to pay, and then allows us to both provide an outstanding on-campus education and to offer students opportunities to take the knowledge they gain in the classroom and use it in the service of society throughout the world. In doing so, learning is enhanced through experience and the campus culture enriched."

Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III said the budget reflects the high priority given to financially supporting the institution's strategic goals.