COVID-19 Financial Aid FAQ

President Price has recently established a new Duke Student Assistance Fund to provide support for extraordinary expenses and needs that may have come up as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Further information is available at duke.edu/studentassistance. 

First-year, sophomore and junior Duke students who lived in on-campus housing prior to March 13 will receive a credit to their Fall 2020 semester bill for the prorated portion of Spring semester housing costs covering the period March 13-May 10. This credit will reduce the cost of on-campus housing for Fall 2020.

Students graduating Spring 2020 will receive a refund instead of a credit. If you are not graduating this semester and do not return to campus housing next year, we will refund at that time.

Signing up for direct deposit through DukeHub is the quickest and safest way to get funds from the university. They will be deposited to your personal bank account and will clear immediately. If you do not have direct deposit and a refund of dining points or loan proceeds is coming to you, the University will cut a paper check and send it to the permanent address on file.

Only students who are NC residents and currently living in NC are able to make use of work study over the summer.  If you fulfill these qualifications and would like a work-study award, please contact finaid@duke.edu.

Only students who are NC residents and currently living in NC are able to make use of work study over the summer.  If you fulfill these qualifications and would like a work-study award, please contact finaid@duke.edu.

Here's a link to the most recent information on the impact for student loans: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus#borrower-questions

Congress mandated the Department of Education (ED) suspend payments and interest accrual on federally-held student loans until Sept. 30, 2020. Loan servicers will be required by the end of next week to apply the benefits of the COVID-19 relief package retroactively to March 13, and to turn off automatic payments for borrowers who have recurring ACH transfers. ED also wrote that loan servicers can apply the interest borrowers paid on their loans after March 13 to their principal balance, or that borrowers can request a refund for those payments from their lender. Additionally, ED wrote that loan servicers must report all suspended payments as on-time payments to credit bureaus, so as to not negatively impact a borrower’s credit report.  

ED also updated its COVID-19 information web page with new guidance for borrowers questioning whether to stop making loan payments before changes are officially implemented. In response to a question about what will happen to auto-payments if a borrower takes no action, ED wrote that any auto-payments processed between March 13 and September 30 can be refunded upon request to loan servicers. 

One outstanding question was whether the legislation will apply to the loans of students who recently graduated and have not entered into repayment. Based on the instructions servicers received from ED, Trump's announcement to waive interest on all federally-held loans starting March 13, 2020, including loans for borrowers in school and in their grace period, is not to be altered by the CARES Act, except that it is to end Sept. 30, 2020.

Given the rapid change of circumstances and the advisement of health officials, we are unable to permit students to return to campus to retrieve their belongings. However, Housing is coordinating shipment and storage of belongings. Please visit the Housing website here to learn more.

Financial Aid cannot assist with these expenses. However, Housing is coordinating shipment and storage of belongings. Please visit the Housing website here to learn more.

If you have lost your health insurance, you can still enroll in the Duke Student Medical Insurance Plan. Go to your DukeHub account to begin the enrollment process. The plan period is through July 31, and the cost will be prorated.

If you are receiving need-based financial aid from Duke, you can provide proof of the loss of your insurance to your financial aid counselor and request that the cost of the Duke Student Medical Insurance Plan be covered by financial aid.