Eligibility

The Duke Child Care Tuition Subsidy may be offered to Duke employees who meet the following criteria:

  • He or she is a regular Duke employee working at least 30 hours per week in a benefit eligible position paid through Duke Corporate Payroll
  • He or she has an annual family gross income of less than $80,000. The gross annual income is verifiable by the employee's most recent Income Tax Return, W-2(s) and other documentation upon request.
  • Duke employee must have a child enrolled at the DCC or The Little School at Duke. Only one child per family may receive subsidy at a time. Subsidy may not be transferred from one sibling to another.
  • To qualify for subsidy, a household cannot have a stay at home parent/guardian who is capable of taking careof the child. Eligible households are: single parent/guardian households; households in which both parents/guardians are either working full time or enrolled full time in an accredited education or training program;or a household in which a parent/guardian has a disability which limits his/her ability to take care of the child.
  • You must be on the subsidy waitlist and be the next eligible person on the the subsidy waitlist to whom a space has been offered. If you are eligible for subsidy, we advise parents to place their child on the subsidy waitlist at the same time that they place the child on the waitlist to enter the Duke Children's Campus or The Little School at Duke.

Parent eligibility must be reviewed annually in June. At that time, parents who receive subsidy will be notified by Duke HR, Office of Staff and Family Programs to re-submit income verification documents in order to retain their eligibility.

Please Note: A significant change in family income during the year will affect the subsidy amount. This would occur, for example, when a spouse who formerly did not work starts a new job or a working parent receives a significant salary increase. Parents are required to immediately notify Duke Human Resources Office of Staff and Family Programs should family income change so that the amount of subsidy can be re-evaluated by the committee and adjusted as required.

State or County Tuition Assistance

The State Department of Social Services (DSS) may have tuition assistance funding available for qualified families.

Before being considered for tuition subsidy, families who meet the income threshold for DSS funding eligibility must provide proof that they have applied for these funds and make Duke aware of any state or county funding they will receive.

Families who may qualify based on income level, should contact one of the agencies listed below. When applicable, the employee must get a letter of verification from the agency stating that they have applied for DSS funding and it was not granted or is unavailable. This letter is required to be submitted with their Subsidy Application Form.

  1. Public child care subsidy funds are distributed at the county level; income thresholds to determine eligibility are set by the state. Sources for guidance on current eligibility and application are:
     
    1. For help in any county: Child Care Services Association: (919) 403-6950 (make sure to let them know you are a Duke Family as Staff and Family Programs provides CCSA with funding to provide referral and support services to Duke families).
    2. Durham's Alliance For Child Care Access (919) 560-8300.
    3. Or check online at: http://info.dhhs.state.nc.us (Choose Manuals, then choose Division of Child Development, Division of Medical Assistance, or Division of Social Services.)  

If state/county child care tuition funds are awarded to an employee, the amount of the award is subtracted from the Duke subsidy granted to the employee based on the monthly subsidy scale in effect at the time. Duke parents will need to pay the remaining difference in tuition.

Tuition Subsidy Availability

Subsidy availability is subject to funding through annual grants by Duke. If annual subsidy obligations approach the annual subsidy budget, Duke Human Resources Office of Staff and Family Programs (S&FP) will notify the center that subsidy money is no longer available.

  1. When subsidy funds are not available S&FP will maintain a waitlist so that those families who may be eligible for subsidy can be granted subsidy in the order of their subsidy waitlist priority date (the date on which their completed the Subsidy Application Form was received by S&FP).  
  2. Some of these families would choose to enroll regardless; others who could not afford to enroll without subsidy may also simultaneously be on the enrollment waitlist.  
  3. Subsidy would be offered to people in the order of the subsidy waitlist.

Application for Tuition Subsidy

To apply for subsidy a family should complete the Subsidy Application Form and submit it to the office of Staff and Family Programs with supporting documentation.

Documents may be hand-delivered to:

Tracey Perry
Staff & Family Programs
705 Broad St., Room 201

Documents may be mailed to:

Staff & Family Programs
Attention: Tracey Perry
Box 90520
Durham, NC 27708 

  1. Most recent tax return
  2. Most recent W-2(s) for the household
  3. When applicable, documentation showing full-time enrollment in an accredited education or training program
  4. When applicable, a letter of verification of application (and denial) for state or county funding. If the county and state are out of funding and won't provide a letter, simply notify Staff & Family Programs of this status and the details of this notification (date, agency, person).

Please note that it may be necessary to provide the last four paystubs for the household.

All financial information will be kept confidential. 

Childcare Subsidy for Ph.D. Students

Ph.D. students who meet application criteria may apply for a childcare subsidy from The Graduate School. For questions, please contact grad-childcare@duke.edu.