Financial Aid

Our current policy allows us to provide merit-based scholarships to ALL accepted MPP applicants who are not receiving full funding from outside sources. 

Sanford issues merit-based awards to our domestic and international students in the form of tuition scholarships and/or teaching, research, or staff assistantships. You should indicate on your application that you would like to be considered for financial aid. We require no additional documentation.

US citizens are guaranteed assistantships for two academic years of study, conditional on satisfactory academic progress during the first year.

International students may apply to all assistantship positions that are open. 

Dual degree students only receive tuition fellowships during their first year of the MPP program and are not guaranteed assistantships due to the additional credit requirements of their first-year plan. They may apply to any assistantships that are unfilled.

All students are automatically considered for fellowship awards upon application to Sanford, except for the Ladd Fellowship which requires a separate application. There are also many third-party fellowships available from our partners.

Explore our fellowship page for a list of all Sanford -related fellowships and to read the stories from many of our recent fellowship recipients.  

The Duke Graduate School also has funding opportunities. 

Duke's Office of Research Support offers

• a huge database of funding opportunities for all disciplines (use the advanced search function)

• search tools, such as PIVOT

• workshops on finding funding

List of opportunities sent to The Graduate School from other Duke units and external institutions, including a number of funding opportunities.

Duke Career Center Internship Funding Program for Master’s Students

It takes global perspectives to effect global change. We have partnered with APSIA to provide our students with access to global resources.

Please explore the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs premier scholarship and fellowship search engine. The site allows students to search by a number of filters, including your subject area interests like Public Policy.

Please see our full listing of external scholarship resources below. What we recommend is picking at least one night a week, even if its for 30 minutes to explore external scholarship organizations. 

• Cappex
• ·CareerOneStop
• ·EduMed
• ·Fastweb
• ·GraduateScholarships
• ·Immigrants Rising.org
• ·International Scholarships 
• ·International Student Organization
• ·ScholarshipOwl
• ·Scholarships.com - resources for undocumented/DACA students
• ·STEMGradStudents

Under agreements with AmeriCorps, City Year, Peace Corps, Teach for America students who are accepted into the Duke MPP Program are guaranteed a tuition fellowship:

• For two-year MPP students, the fellowship is a minimum of $14,000 per year, through a combination of a tuition fellowship and payment for community service, teaching, research, or graduate assistantship.

• For dual-degree programs, students receive a $12,000 tuition fellowship during their first year of study. They must spend year one in the MPP program before starting the dual-degree curriculum in the law (JD), environment (MEM), or business (MBA) program.

These fellowships are the minimum students will receive. All applicants from partner programs will also receive full consideration for additional, merit-based tuition assistance based on the strength of their application.

• The Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for determining eligibility.

• Sanford will contribute up to $16,000 USD each VA academic year in Yellow Ribbon scholarship support and the VA will provide up to $16,000 USD in additional funding.

• You must be 100% eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

• Effective August 1, 2022, active duty service members who qualify at the 100% level or the spouse using the transferred benefits of an active duty service member who qualify at the 100% level, may use the Yellow Ribbon program.

• Recipients of the Fry Scholarship and Purple Heart will be covered under the Yellow Ribbon Program. This was effective August 1, 2018.

• You must have served an aggregate period of 36 months in active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, or have been honorably discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability and after serving 30 continuous days after Sept. 10, 2001.

• You may be a dependent eligible for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on the service eligibility criteria.

  Getting started:

  Duke University’s Veterans Education Benefits Office administers all Veterans Benefits.  The Duke University School Certifying Official (SCO) in the Office of the University Registrar may be reached via email or at 919.684.4225.  Admitted students must submit their VA documents (i.e. VA Certificate of Eligibility letter, Purple Heart Certificate) to the SCO to start the VA benefit review process. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to sanfordfinancialaid@duke.edu

The Duke MPP Program recognizes and provides application fee waivers for Pickering and Rangel Fellows, PPIA Fellows, and Truman Scholars.

Prior to submitting your application, please email us with your fee waiver request and the required written documentation of your Pickering, Rangel, PPIA, or Truman Scholar award. We then can help waive your fee. Please also include your fellowship documentation in your application. Contact MPP admissions

Duke University participates in the national consortium of graduate programs that recruit and support Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who wish to pursue advanced degrees.

• Sanford School of Public Policy Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Manual

• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employees
• The U.S Department of Education Federal Loan Simulator
• Finaid Accrued Interest Calculator 
• National Foundation for Credit Counseling Services (NFCC)
• FDIC Financial Planning Audio Podcasts