How Duke Does Aid

In an ongoing effort to make college costs and assistance easier for families to understand, Duke's Office of Financial Aid has developed a new video that takes parents and prospective students through the aid process.

"The forms can be intimidating enough," said Alison Rabil, who ran Barnard College's financial aid office before she came to direct Duke's in 2009. "More than half of all Duke families receive some assistance from our office. Even if they are not receiving grant aid, we are here to answer questions and provide financing options. "

The new video, "How Duke Does Aid," uses a white board and simple graphics to explain how Duke calculates aid packages for its students. The video is accompanied by a new online financial aid calculator, developed by the College Board, which the office has posted to enable families to estimate for themselves how much they might be expected to pay at Duke.

"Given Duke's deep commitment to making education affordable, it's important to explain to prospective students and their families how financial aid works in plain English," said Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education. "We want to demystify the process and this video does just that."

The new online video and financial aid calculator are the highlights of a new website the office launched recently to make financial aid information clearer and more easily accessible to Duke students and families.

Ryan Sparrow, a recent Duke graduate whom Rabil hired last summer, along with the Office of Undergraduate Education, collected recommendations from student focus groups about how to improve the previous website. He then made many of the updates himself.

"The students gave us great feedback about a number of things we mistakenly thought were obvious, such as where our office is located," Rabil said.

The revamped site has less text. The office's hours and location are more prominently placed. And students now need to make only a single click instead of three to connect with their assigned counselors.

In another effort to improve student understanding of the financial aid process, Rabil is also updating the financial aid information included in the Blue Book that new first-year students receive before arriving on campus in the fall.

"We want students to know, for instance, that if they are receiving aid, they can get extra funds to take classes that carry fees for additional supplies or field trips," Rabil said. "The whole idea is that students on aid can have a full academic experience at Duke. That is what we work hard to ensure."