Apply for a Higher Education Grant
The Duke Endowment has redesigned the grant application process to be more streamlined and intuitive. We believe this new process will strengthen our work together in the future.
Application Deadline
Staff in the Higher Education program area works with the Endowment’s four eligible institutions to determine when grant requests may be submitted. Typically the Endowment's Trustees consider new requests from these schools two to three times per year.
Eligibility for Higher Education Grants
The Duke Endowment’s grantmaking in Higher Education is limited to:
- Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
- Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
- Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina
To apply for a grant, please contact your institution’s grant administration office. The Endowment works through specific contacts in that office to develop projects that align with our areas of work.
We do not award grants to individuals, including graduate students and individual researchers.
Areas of Work and Funding Priorities
In Higher Education, we focus our work in three main areas:
Academic Excellence
We fund efforts to recruit and retain faculty, improvements to the quality and capacity of campus infrastructure, as well as innovative programs and curricular enhancements.
An example of our work focused on Academic Excellence is Recruiting and Retaining Faculty.
Search our current Academic Excellence grantees.
Educational Access and Success
We fund scholarships, financial aid support, and initiatives to support student retention and graduation.
An example of our work focused on Educational Access and Success is Providing Scholarships and Financial Aid.
Search our current Educational Access and Success grantees.
Community and Campus Engagement
We fund programs that increase campus awareness of and response to social issues, as well as certain collaborative efforts across the four schools that impact campus and community.
An example of our work focused Community and Campus Engagement is Fostering Community-Campus Partnerships.
Search our current Community and Campus Engagement grantees.
