StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The Karsh International Scholars Program at Duke University is a fully funded undergraduate scholarship for international students with demonstrated financial need. It covers full tuition for up to four years of full-time undergraduate study, room and board, mandatory university fees, demonstrated financial need beyond those costs, and funding for three summers — for research, unpaid internships and other opportunities that advance the scholar’s academic career. It is open to students in any academic field or major.
The key fact about Karsh is that there is no separate application. You apply to Duke for undergraduate admission through the Common Application and request financial aid in that same first-year application; eligible applicants are then considered automatically for Karsh during the admissions process. That means the Karsh "deadline" is really Duke’s admissions deadline, and there are two of them: Early Decision on 2 November 2026 and Regular Decision on 4 January 2027. This is the 2026–27 admissions cycle for entry in autumn 2027 (Duke’s Class of 2031), which is why several current sources label the same award "2027" — the "2026" in the queue title refers to the application year, not the entry year. If you are reading this close to 2 November, do not leave it to the last day: older listings still show 1 November, and Duke’s current date is the 2nd.
Eligibility
- An international applicant who is a citizen of a country outside the United States.
- Not a US citizen and not a dual US / other-country citizen.
- Applying as an incoming first-year undergraduate at Duke.
- Must not already hold a BA or BS degree before enrolling.
- Strong academic preparation.
- Demonstrated financial need, with a financial-aid application submitted to Duke.
- Open to students in any academic field / major.
Benefits
- Full tuition for up to four years of full-time undergraduate study.
- Room and board.
- Mandatory university fees.
- Demonstrated financial need beyond those costs.
- Funding for three summers, for research, unpaid internships and other opportunities that advance the scholar’s academic career.
- No separate Karsh application — consideration is automatic once you apply to Duke and request financial aid.
Documents to prepare
- The Common Application, including the personal essay and Duke short responses.
- An official high-school transcript.
- The Secondary School Report with counsellor recommendation.
- Two teacher recommendations from major academic subjects.
- First-quarter grades (Early Decision applicants).
- A midyear grade report when available.
- The US$85 application fee, or an approved fee-waiver request.
- The CSS Profile for international applicants requesting financial aid (Duke’s Early Decision list also names FAFSA under financial-aid applications; the CSS Profile is the form international applicants use to evidence need).
- Tax, income or other financial documents if Duke or the College Board requests them.
- Translated transcripts must be submitted with both the original and an English translation, where translation is needed.
- Note: SAT / ACT scores are optional for the 2026–27 cycle. An English-proficiency test is recommended but not required for non-native speakers or students not studying in an English-medium curriculum.
How to apply
- Apply to Duke for undergraduate admission through the Common Application (QuestBridge is also named as a route where eligible).
- Request financial aid in that original first-year application, completing the required financial-aid forms (CSS Profile and, per Duke’s list, FAFSA).
- There is no separate Karsh application — eligible applicants are considered automatically for Karsh during the admissions process.
- Meet the deadline for your route: Early Decision, 2 November 2026 (additional financial-aid documents by 15 November; decisions mid-December) or Regular Decision, 4 January 2027 (decisions late March / early April 2027).
FAQs
Early Decision: 2 November 2026. Regular Decision: 4 January 2027. The widely repeated 1 November 2026 date on aggregator sites is carried over from an earlier cycle and is not Duke’s current date — use 2 November.
No. You apply to Duke for undergraduate admission through the Common Application and request financial aid in that same first-year application. Eligible applicants are then considered automatically for Karsh during the admissions process.
Full tuition for up to four years, room and board, mandatory university fees, demonstrated financial need beyond those costs, and funding for three summers of research or internships. Duke publishes no single cash figure, and a laptop, living allowance or travel costs are not confirmed by Duke.
International applicants who are citizens of a country outside the United States, are not US citizens or dual US citizens, are applying as incoming first-year undergraduates, do not already hold a BA or BS degree, have strong academic preparation and demonstrated financial need. Any major.
This is the 2026–27 admissions cycle for entry in autumn 2027 (Duke’s Class of 2031). The "2026" in the title refers to the application year, not the entry year.
No — SAT / ACT scores are optional for the 2026–27 cycle. An English-proficiency test is recommended but not required for non-native speakers or students not studying in an English-medium curriculum.
Not published by Duke. Secondary estimates of roughly 18–25 a year circulate, but one figure belongs to the separate Robertson programme, so no number is stated here.
The Common Application with personal essay and Duke short responses, official high-school transcript, Secondary School Report with counsellor recommendation, two teacher recommendations, first-quarter grades (Early Decision), a midyear grade report when available, the US$85 application fee or a fee waiver, and the CSS Profile for financial aid, plus tax/income documents if requested.
Verified 28 Oct 2026 against Duke University's own pages: the Karsh International Scholars Program page (Office of University Scholars and Fellows, ousf.duke.edu) confirms the award is for international first-year undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, covers tuition, room and board, mandatory fees, need beyond those costs and three summers of funded research or internship experience, and requires no separate application beyond applying to Duke and requesting financial aid; Duke Undergraduate Admissions (admissions.duke.edu/apply/) confirms the 2026-27 cycle deadlines of 2 November 2026 for Early Decision and 4 January 2027 for Regular Decision (Early Decision: application, Early Decision Agreement, transcript, first-quarter grades, Secondary School Report with counsellor recommendation, two teacher recommendations, financial-aid applications — CSS Profile and FAFSA — all due 2 November; additional financial-aid documents by 15 November; decisions mid-December. Regular Decision: application and supporting documents due 4 January; decisions late March / early April 2027). Eligibility: international applicant, citizen of a country outside the US, not a US citizen and not a dual US / other-country citizen, incoming first-year undergraduate, must not already hold a BA or BS degree, strong academic preparation, demonstrated financial need with a financial-aid application submitted to Duke, open to any major. Documents per Duke Undergraduate Admissions for first-year applicants 2026-27: Common Application with personal essay and Duke short responses, official high-school transcript, Secondary School Report with counsellor recommendation, two teacher recommendations from major academic subjects, first-quarter grades (Early Decision), midyear grade report when available, US$85 application fee or approved fee waiver, CSS Profile for international applicants requesting financial aid, tax/income or other financial documents if requested, translated transcripts with original and English translation. SAT/ACT optional for 2026-27; English-proficiency test recommended but not required for non-native speakers or students not studying in an English-medium curriculum. CONFLICTS: (1) 1 November vs 2 November 2026 — Bright Scholarship, Eduspur, EngineersJob and other aggregators give 1 November; Duke's own admissions page for the 2026-27 cycle gives 2 November for Early Decision, corroborated by IvyWise, College Confidential's Class of 2031 thread and other 2026-27 cycle guides. Resolved in favour of Duke: 2 November 2026 (Early Decision). The 1 November figure looks carried over from an earlier cycle. (2) 4 November 2026 (GlobalScholarships) — no other source corroborates this for undergraduate admission; 4 November 2026 is the Round 1 deadline for a Duke Fuqua graduate programme, so this appears to be a mix-up. Discarded. (3) Bright Scholarship contradicts itself on the BA/BS rule — its eligibility list correctly says applicants "cannot have a BA or BSc degree already", then a later line says eligible students are "those who already hold a B.A. or B.S. degree". Discarded as a copy error; Duke's rule (no prior BA/BS) stands. (4) Number of awards — secondary estimates of roughly 18-25 a year circulate, but one figure belongs to the Robertson programme and the other is an estimate of need-met international enrolments, not a Karsh quota. Duke publishes no number — stated as not published. (5) Laptop / living allowance / total value — claimed by some aggregators, absent from Duke's Karsh page, which lists only tuition, room and board, mandatory fees, demonstrated need beyond those costs, and three summers of funding. Not confirmed — omitted. One aggregator claims a figure above $350,000 over four years — single-source, not Duke-published, and on a page that confuses Karsh with the separate Robertson programme; omitted.
