Current and Returning Students

Submit your University Aid Application

• Visit your To-Do List on CAESAR and click on "Complete UG Univ Aid Application Online."
• You may save your data and exit at any time, but you must submit at the end to complete the application.
• This application must be completed by the student and is not available through CAESAR Guest Access.

Submit your FAFSA (Domestic students only)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the official application for federal and many state financial aid programs. If you wish only to apply for federal aid, you only need to complete and submit the FAFSA.

• The FAFSA requires tax information from two years prior to the academic year for which you are applying.
• Visit the FAFSA website and complete the application. Northwestern's federal school code is 001739. Additional Information for Individuals Without a Social Security Number (SSN)
• In most years, the FAFSA is available October 1. Go to the studentaid.gov site for more up-to-date application launch information.
• Based on FAFSA, some applications to be selected for further federal verification. Those applicants will be notified and asked to submit further documentation.

Please note: International students will skip this step.

Submit additional documentation as requested by our office

Our office will reach out if additional documentation is required to review your financial aid application. Please keep an eye on your u.northwestern.edu email addresses over the summer.

If using private student loans or Parent PLUS Loans, apply for these loan programs

The Parent PLUS Federal loan program opens their application in June. We encourage families to wait until June to apply for the upcoming year to ensure they fill out the correct application.

Apply for private loans through the lender. Our office will review and certify the loan after you have been approved for the loan.

We will make every effort to input these loans to the student account before the bill is due September 1.

Report other aid, including external scholarships

Your total financial aid (including loans) cannot exceed your Cost of Attendance for the academic year. Please notify us of all financial aid (grants, scholarships, fellowships, assistantships, etc.) you receive so we can make any necessary reductions to your student loans.

Loan adjustments may result in your having to return loan funds already approved and disbursed.

Report Outside Scholarships

Respond to award letter

For those students with completed applications, our office typically releases the upcoming aid year award letters in July. You can view your award letter in CAESAR. Your scholarships will be automatically accepted, and you should review all other aid types and accept or decline them before the year begins.

See Accepting or Declining Your Aid Offer for more information.

Apply financial aid to your tuition

• Your fall bill will be released on August 10 and it will contain the charges for fall tuition, standard student fees, health insurance (unless you have waived out), on-campus housing and meal plans, and any other enrollment fees (such as for labs).
• Winter bills are released December 10 and are due January 1.
• Spring bills are released March 10 and are due April 1.
• If a student is taking courses in the summer, the bill is released on May 10 and is due June 1.

If you do not see aid you expected to see on the bill, please reach out to our office via email and we will troubleshoot your account. If you have questions about payments and the charges, please reach out to the Student Finance Office.

Account for any enrollment changes or withdrawal

If you change your enrollment from full-time to any other enrollment status, your financial aid and charges due may be recalculated. Please reach out to our office to request information about your aid changes and connect to Registrar's Office.

Other aid applications

• Aid for Health Insurance: submit ASAP, preferably by August 1 if you are requesting a grant to help with cost of health insurance
• Request for Aid Beyond 4 Years: Submit one year before the additional term of aid needed. Example: submit fall of senior year if you know you need aid for the fall term after senior year
• Aid Review for Loss of Income or Special Circumstances- submit an appeal at any time if your circumstances have changed

Reapply each year

Each year, you will start this checklist over again by completing the U-App and the FAFSA (domestic students only). Typically, both the U-App and FAFSA for the upcoming year are available for students to complete in the winter quarter.