Is UIUC or Duke more likely to offer merit scholarships to a strong applicant?

UIUC is more likely than Duke to offer a strong applicant some form of merit scholarship, but the amounts are often modest and vary by college, major, and residency status. Duke’s merit awards are prestigious, often very large, and extremely limited; even applicants with exceptional academic records should treat them as unlikely.

At UIUC, scholarship availability is decentralized in part through individual colleges and departments, and many awards are awarded after admission or based on a separate scholarship process.

At Duke, major merit programs are designed to recruit a very small national pool of unusually accomplished students with distinctive leadership, service, research, artistic, or intellectual records. Strong grades and test scores alone rarely make a student a likely recipient. Duke does not use merit scholarships as broadly as many public universities use enrollment incentives.

Apply to both if each is academically appealing, but build your affordability plan around UIUC’s published costs and scholarship opportunities, plus Duke’s net price calculator and need-based aid estimate, rather than expecting a Duke merit award.