Billing & Payments
Northwestern will issue an invoice for tuition, fees, and room & board (if applicable) before the start of each quarter. If you receive financial aid and/or loans and have completed all necessary requirements, these funds will credit automatically to your invoice each term.
- Viewing student account information
- Billing & financial aid correspondence
- 529 Plans
- Financial aid refunds
- Questions about your bill
Viewing Student Account Information
The Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law which requires students to provide consent before aid and account information can be shared with parents or others. Current students can provide guest access to their CAESAR account and the University’s electronic billing system, so parents can view financial aid, pay invoices online, and access other student information.
Billing & Financial Aid Correspondence
The invoice for each term will be issued on the following schedule:
| Term | eBill Available Online | Payment Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Fall | August 10 | September 1 |
| Winter | December 10 | January 1 |
| Spring | March 10 | April 1 |
An email will be sent to the student’s official Northwestern email address notifying them that their bill is available for viewing online. If your student has granted you permission through guest access, you may be able to view and pay invoices online.
More information about billing and payments can be found at the Student Accounts website.
529 Plans
If you have a state-operated education savings account, such as a 529 Plan, you should notify the agency that your student will be attending Northwestern. If the disbursement of funds from the 529 Plan requires any action from the University, such as certification of enrollment or cost of attendance, your plan administrator should forward the required documents to the attention of our scholarship coordinator. Once our office has received the document for the fall term, we will automatically process the fund requests for subsequent terms during that academic year.
Financial Aid Refunds
If the amount of financial aid and/or loans your student receives is greater than the amount billed by the University, a credit balance will result on the student’s account. This credit may be requested as a refund (through CAESAR) by the student as early as the first day of classes for the student to use toward indirect costs.
Questions
If you have questions about a particular item or amount on your invoice, refer to the specific department contact information on your paper invoice, or contact the Student Accounts office for assistance.
Our office will provide enrollment verification and other required information after the first week of classes and funds will be sent directly to the Office of Student Accounts to be applied to the student’s account.