Summer Sessions and Policies

Duke Summer Session offers undergraduates the option to enroll in summer course work during its two 6-week "traditional terms" and its two 4-week "intensive terms". However, you are permitted to be enrolled at any point in the summer in only one term at a time (whether a traditional 6-week term or an intensive 4-week term). In other words, you may not be enrolled simultaneously in one traditional 6-week term course and one intensive 4-week term course. Exceptions are allowed only with permission of your academic dean. The following restrictions apply to the number of credits a student may take in a traditional and in an intensive term:

Course credit limitations:

  • Traditional 6-week term: You may register for one, two, or three courses as long as you do not exceed 2.5 course credits in one term. However you may not register for more than one natural science laboratory course in any one term.
  • Intensive 4-week term: You may register for no more than 1.5 course credits in an intensive term.

Pre-registration for the summer begins at the end of February and continues through the third class day of each term and is handled through DukeHub. You are served by your academic dean during the summer term(s) as you are in the fall and spring semesters, and academic policies and procedures of the regular academic year apply also to the summer terms.

The two Summer Session terms (whether traditional or intensive) are regarded in many respects as equivalent to a fall or spring semester during the regular academic year. Accordingly, it is important to keep in mind that semester continuation and probation rules apply if you enroll in one or both term(s).

During the regular academic year, you must pass at least three courses to continue as a student in the next semester. To meet continuation in the summer, you may fail no more than one course over the span of the two summer terms.

Please note that probation regulations also apply in the summer. If in the summer you earn a D and an F or any of the other combinations of grades that normally result in a student being placed on probation, you will be placed on probation for the next (fall) semester. Note, too, that a student placed on probation for the fall semester based on weak performance in courses in the spring, can, with approval of the academic dean, take four courses in the summer to clear probation--to do this the student would have to enroll in both traditional 6-week terms. It is important to understand, however, that failure to clear probation in the summer will result in dismissal from the University for the followiing fall and spring semesters.

There is a course withdrawal fee that is unique to the summer. Specifically:

  1. If you officially drop a course prior to the first day of the term, you will be assessed no tuition or fees. However, if you are still officially enrolled in a course once the summer term begins, you cannot be released from your financial obligations even if you have never attended a class. Course withdrawal fees will be assessed.
  2. You will be assessed a fee of $150 per course and granted no refund of the health fee if you drop your courses during the official three-day drop/add period at the beginning of each summer term if this results in any reduction in course load (i.e., if not offset by adding a course or courses of equal credit value in the same term).
  3. After the first three days of the term (i.e., after drop/add ends), you may withdraw from a course for compelling reasons only with the permission of your academic dean and by turning in a completed course withdrawal form, available from your academic dean. (Consult the Academic Calendar for course withdrawal deadlines in the summer). If you withdraw from a course during a summer term, you are eligible for no refund of tuition and fees. In addition, failure to attend a course or to officially withdraw from it may result in the recording of a grade of F on your official transcript.

Summer Financial Aid

If you receive financial aid during the regular academic year, you are also eligible to receive financial aid for two summer session terms. These two summer terms of aid are in addition to the eight semesters of aid for which you may be eligible during the regular academic year. Summer financial aid may be used for on-campus study, or for Duke-sponsored study abroad programs, or both and may be used in the same summer or in two different summers. You must have filed your aid applications (FAFSA and PROFILE) for the current year if studying during Summer Session Term I, or submit these forms for the coming year if studying during Summer Session Term II. Please direct inquiries about need-based financial aid availability and additional application procedures to your financial aid counselor at the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid, 2106 Campus Drive (919/684-6225). Applications should be submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid no later than two weeks before the beginning of each term.

For additional information regarding Summer Session, consult the Summer Session web site.

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