Feinberg School of Medicine MD Students

Students who submit their application materials after the deadline will be considered for financial aid but may not qualify for all financial aid programs based on the availability of funds.

Note this information applies to domestic MD students only. View application instructions for international students.

Priority Deadline

All financial aid application materials must be submitted by:

• January 15, 2025 for students admitted on or around December 1, 2024
• March 17, 2025 for students admitted on or around March 1, 2025
• Within 5 days of admission for students admitted after March 15, 2025

Application steps

1. Complete the FAFSA
2. Complete the MD Entering University Aid Application
3. Submit additional items to our office
4. Receive preliminary aid offer
5. Receive official aid offer and accept or decline your loan assistance

1. Complete the FAFSA

Priority Deadline: Based on admission date listed above 

• Visit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) website and complete the online 2025-26 FAFSA. If you do not already have an FSA ID, you will need to set one up before completing the FAFSA. This FSA ID will be used for many Department of Education websites.
• Designate Northwestern University - Evanston as the recipient of the information; our federal school code is 001739. Any other Northwestern University codes (001740, school-specific codes beginning with an "E") should not be used.
• Please note that although the FAFSA for 2025-26 is available to complete now, due to system and processing delays your FAFSA application may not be marked as complete until sometime in February or upon receipt from the Department of Education. We apologize for any inconvenience.
• After the FAFSA is processed, you will receive a FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS), summarizing your information. Resolve any incorrect information via the FAFSA web site or by returning the corrected and signed FSS. You can also monitor your FAFSA submission status by logging into studentaid.gov. Your FAFSA status will appear under "My Activity" on your dashboard.
• International students are not required to complete the FAFSA and are only required to complete the MD Entering University Aid Application and submit the supplemental documentation outlined in step 3.

2. Complete the MD Entering University Aid Application

Priority Deadline: Based on admission date listed above 

• The MD Entering University Aid Application can be completed online here. The application can take up to 45 minutes to complete. The application must be completed in a single session as you will not be able to save and return to the application after starting it .
• To complete the application, you will need:
  • A copy of the 2023 federal tax return for the student applicant.
  • A copy of the 2023 federal tax return for the applicant’s parent(s).
  • Information about your assets and your parent(s) assets, including investments, businesses, homes, trusts, and vehicles.
• Students age 26 and older are not required to provide parental information on the university aid application.
• Students under the age of 26 (or who will not be 26 by August 1, 2025 must provide parental information if they wish to be considered for institutional need-based grants.
  • Exceptions to requirements for parental information: 
    • If you are married, and your spouse is NOT a student, you only need to submit you and your spouse's information. If your spouse is a student, you will still need to submit your parents' information.
    • If you are active duty military or a veteran, you do not need to submit your parents' information.
    • All other exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Financial Aid and are extremely rare.
  • Note: If your parents are currently separated or were divorced after September 1, 2021, submit financial information for both parents; if they were divorced before that date, submit information for your custodial parent only. If your custodial parent has remarried, submit your stepparent's information as well.
• International students are not required to complete the FAFSA and are only required to complete the MD Entering University Aid Application and submit the supplemental documentation outlined in step 3.

The MD Entering University Aid Application is used to assist in determining eligibility for institutional need-based grants. If you do not wish to be considered for institutional need-based grants but do wish to apply only for federal student loans, then you only need to complete the FAFSA (unless you’re an international applicant) along with the Chicago Office of Financial Aid's short-form University Aid Application. The short-form University Aid Application is different from the more in-depth MD Entering University Aid Application noted above. In this case, please contact the Chicago Office of Financial Aid to request that our short-form University Aid Application be made available to you via CAESAR.

3. Submit additional items to our office

Priority Deadline: Based on admission date listed above

Submit all items to our secure document upload portal. Please note that CAESAR will be updated to reflect received documents within 3-5 business days of submission.

Student income information

• If you filed an Income Tax return for 2023, submit signed copies of your 2023 Federal Income Tax return and W-2 forms.
• If you have not yet filed or were not required to file your 2023 Federal Income Tax return download and complete the 2025-26 Verification of Student (and Spouse) Income form.
  • Please also submit a copy of your 2022 Federal Income Tax return and 2023 W-2 forms along with the Verification of Student (and Spouse) Income form.

• If you will be married by October 2025, you must also submit a copy of your spouse's 2023 Federal Income Tax return.

Parental income information

Students under the age of 26 (or who will not be 26 by August 1, 2025) must provide:

• Submit signed copies of your parents' 2023 Federal Income Tax return and W-2 forms.
• If your parents have not yet filed or were not required to file their 2023 Federal Income Tax return, download and complete the 2025-26 Verification of Parents' Income form
  • Please submit a copy of their 2022 Federal Income Tax return and 2023 W-2 forms along with the Verification of Parent's Income form.

•  Students age 26 or older on or before August 1, 2025 are not required to submit this information.

Northwestern Dependents with divorced parents may need to submit additional tax returns:

• If your parents are currently separated or were divorced after September 1, 2021, submit tax returns for both parents.
• If your parents were divorced before September 1, 2021 submit a tax return for your custodial parent only. If your custodial parent has remarried, submit your stepparent's tax return as well.

Once you have your NetID from Admissions, you can check the status of your application. Please allow 3-5 business days for your materials to be marked as received.

4. Receive preliminary financial aid offer

Once all materials are submitted, Northwestern will determine your financial aid eligibility and financial aid package. Learn more about how aid is determined.

The Chicago Office of Financial Aid releases preliminary financial aid packages by email to your Northwestern email account on a rolling basis beginning in early-to-mid March for students admitted in December and late March for students admitted after January 1.

No action is required on your preliminary aid offer.

5. Accept or decline your offer via CAESAR

Deadline: As soon as possible after you receive your official financial aid notice email

Once tuition and fee figures are finalized for the upcoming academic year, the Chicago Office of Financial Aid will begin releasing official financial aid offers.

The Chicago Office of Financial Aid will release official financial aid packages to Northwestern email accounts in early Summer. Once you receive notification that the official package is available in CAESAR, you must accept or decline the loan assistance offered to you for the academic year. Learn more about the steps to accept or decline .