Summer
Summer aid may be available to undergraduate students to assist in completing their degree requirements.
Summer is the final quarter of an academic year. If you receive financial aid during the current academic year, you have already completed most of the required application materials for the summer term.
Changes for Summer 2026
Starting in Summer 2026, Northwestern will provide eligible students with institutional financial aid to help offset tuition and fee costs for summer enrollment. These updates are designed to make summer study more flexible and simplify the application process.
What’s Changing:
- No Separate Application Required Students no longer need to submit a separate summer aid application. As long as you’ve completed your 2025–26 aid application, you will automatically be considered for summer aid.
- Aid Based on Current-Year Application. Summer financial aid awards will be based on the 2025–26 aid application. Please note: there are no summer aid appeals.
- Automatic summer aid estimates. Students who applied for need-based aid during the year will be notified in January of their summer eligibility.
- Expanded Eligibility. Eligible students may receive NU summer aid to offset tuition and fee costs for 1 to 4 units of coursework and/or labs. (New this year: summer eligibility begins at 1 unit.)
- Multiple Summers Covered. Students are no longer limited to just one summer of NU aid eligibility.
- Covered Costs. Institutional (Northwestern) summer financial aid can be applied only toward tuition and fee charges. Eligible students enrolled as a half-time student can utilize student loans to help offset additional expenses tied to room and board.
What Hasn’t Changed:
- Summer Study Abroad. This policy does not apply to summer study abroad. Financial aid policies for summer study abroad remain unchanged from prior years, and financial aid remains available for one study abroad experience over the summer to those who qualify.
Eligibility & Awards
You must be enrolled in a minimum of 1.0 units of credit to be eligible for Northwestern financial aid in the summer quarter. Please note: to remain eligible for financial aid in the fall, winter, or spring quarters, students must remain enrolled in 2.0 units of coursework.
You must be a current degree-seeking undergraduate student at Northwestern. Students who graduate in June are not eligible to receive aid in the summer term after graduating. Newly admitted first-year and transfer students are not eligible to apply for summer aid prior to fall quarter matriculation.
Summer Costs & Aid
Tuition in the summer is charged per unit of credit. As in other quarters, financial aid can be awarded up to regular full-time tuition, which in the summer is a maximum of 4 courses. If you plan to enroll in more than 4 credits, you may be eligible for loan assistance to help cover the cost of overload tuition. Institutional aid is not provided for overload enrollment charges in any quarter.
In addition, the summer cost of attendance may vary based on other factors, including the length of your enrollment and your intended living arrangements (e.g., on-campus residence hall, Evanston-area apartment, at home, etc.).
Overall summer costs tend to be lower than a regular quarter, so the dollar amount of your summer aid will be less than you receive in other quarters. Some students who receive financial aid during the academic year may not be financially eligible for need-based aid during the summer due to lower costs of enrollment.
Types of Aid
Federal sources of aid (e.g., Pell Grant or loans) are limited to your remaining eligibility from the current academic year.
If you qualify for Northwestern summer grant assistance, the grant will not exceed your tuition and fee expenses.
If you receive other assistance that is exhausted during the academic year or unavailable in the summer (e.g., work-study, outside scholarships, etc.), you may be offered federal student loans (if eligible) to help make up for these resources in the summer.
If you are awarded outside scholarships or other funding from another source in the summer, you are required to notify our office to have your summer aid eligibility reviewed.
The NU Loan is not available in the summer term.
Non-Northwestern Students & Programs
Northwestern students taking summer courses at institutions outside of Northwestern or unaffiliated study abroad programs are not eligible to receive any financial aid or loans through Northwestern.
Visiting students are not eligible for financial aid from Northwestern.
Enrollment Changes & Withdrawals
Our office will monitor enrollment throughout the summer and may adjust your financial aid if your actual summer enrollment differs or changes from the expected enrollment reported on your summer aid application. Your aid adjustment will depend on your number of credits, length of enrollment, date of withdrawal, and tuition charges.
If you intend to change your summer enrollment, especially after the start of the summer term, we strongly recommend that you contact our office to speak with a financial aid counselor about how your aid eligibility would change.
Apply for Summer Financial Aid
Starting in Summer 2026, students will no longer need to submit a separate financial aid application to be considered for institutional aid, as long as they applied for financial aid during the fall, winter, or spring terms. If you are returning from a leave of absence in the summer quarter, or if you wish to be considered for summer aid but did not apply for aid during the academic year, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.
Students also no longer need to request a summer financial aid estimate. Beginning in January, summer aid estimates will be provided automatically to all students who applied for financial aid during the academic year. Estimates will reflect the number of units the student plans to take during the summer quarter.
Summer Study Abroad
Students attending affiliated or Northwestern programs may apply for summer financial aid; visit the Global Learning Office website for details. You are also encouraged to apply for study abroad scholarships.