JD students

Note: The FAFSA is mandatory for all eligible applicants (US Citizens or eligible noncitizen), regardless of whether:

• You were required to file taxes for that year

• The type of financial aid you are seeking (federal loans or scholarships)
• Eligible students who do not complete the FAFSA will not be considered for any financial aid

1. Complete the 2026-27 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) using your FSA ID user name and password.If you do not already have an FSA ID, you will need to set one up. 
2. Add our federal school code: (001739 Northwestern University - Evanston).
3. Monitor your FAFSA submission status by logging into studentaid.gov. Your FAFSA status will appear under "My Activity" on your dashboard.
   1. After the FAFSA is processed, you will receive a FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS).
   2. Resolve any incorrect information via studentaid.gov or by returning the corrected and signed FSS.

1. Complete the CSS Profile through the link provided 
   1. The application can take up to an hour to complete. You may save your progress and return at a later time if needed.
2.  Pritzker School of Law CSS Code is 1601. Do not use any other Northwestern University CSS Code as they are school specific.
   • Note: Northwestern University does not offer fee waivers

Dependency Status

• Students born before August 1, 2000 are not required to provide parental information
• Students born after August 1, 2000) must provide parental information if they wish to be considered for institutional scholarships
  • Parent income and asset information for a student whose parents are divorced or separated, but not remarried, is determined by including only the income and assets of the parent who provides the greater portion of the student's financial support.
• The CSS Profile is not unique to Northwestern. Even though we don’t require parental information for applicants 26 or older, we cannot restrict the CSS Profile from asking for that information.
  • We cannot provide guidance on what applicants should enter in the parental information fields, as that can have significant ramifications for applicants seeking aid at other institutions during the admissions process.
  • All parental information received for applications over the age threshold (or those classified as independent) will be discarded and not considered in the application review.

Parent Income Exception:

Most exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Financial Aid and are extremely rare. Exceptions for married, military and veteran students are outlined below. If you believe your individual circumstances should merit Independent Student consideration, please contact us.

Married Students

If you are married (as of October 1, 2026) and your spouse is not a student, submit your spouse's income information.

• If your spouse is a student, you will still need to submit your parents' information

Active Military/Veteran Students

If you are active duty military or a veteran, you do not need to submit your parents' information.

Submit all items via the secure document upload portal. CAESAR will update to reflect received documents within 3-5 business days of submission. Note that during peak times, document processing might take longer. Once you have your Student ID from Admissions, you can check the status of your application. 

Spousal income information

• If you will be married by October 1, 2026, you must submit a copy of your future-spouse's 2024 Federal Income Tax return.
• If you are already married, your spouse's tax return is also required if you were either single or filed separately during the 2024 tax year.

Parental income information

• Applicants born before August 1, 2000 are not required to upload parental tax documentation
  • If you meet the age requirement, contact us to waive items on your To Do list related to parent tax information
• Applicants born before August 1, 2000 must upload the following parent income information:
  • (Copy of Parent(s) 2024 Federal Income Tax return (include all schedules)

OR

• If your parents were not required to file their 2024 Federal Income Tax return, submit:
  • 2026-27 Verification of Parents' Income form.

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

• If your parents are currently separated or were divorced after September 1, 2022, submit tax returns for both parents.
• If your parents were divorced before September 1, 2022 submit a tax return for your parent who provided the most financial support in the last 12 months. If your primary parent has remarried, submit your stepparent's tax return as well.

• The Law School Office of Admissions and Financial Aid releases scholarship notifications throughout the spring, starting in March.
• Preliminary financial aid offers for students who complete application materials for scholarships and loans are released by the Chicago Office of Financial Aid (CFAO) before the tuition deposit deadline, provided that students have applied for financial aid by the application deadline. No action is required on your preliminary aid offer. 

Deadline: As soon as possible after you receive your official financial aid notice email. Students must take action on loan offers as they will expire within 60 days. 

• Once tuition and fee figures are finalized for the upcoming academic year, CFAO will release official financial aid offer letters. Learn more about how aid is determined.
• Official financial aid letters  are sent to Northwestern email accounts in early Summer.
• Upon notification, you must accept or decline the loan assistance offered to you for the academic year via CAESAR.  

• Applications for private loan funds must be completed through a lender of your choice. You can begin your private loan search via Northwestern's Preferred Lender list.
• Private loan funds like other types of aid are academic year specific. This means that the loan application that you complete can only be used within one academic year at a time.
• You must notify our office of your private loan approval via our Private Loan Certification Request form 
• Final private loan funds eligibility are subject to a combination of your lender's eligibility criteria, cost of attendance, Satisfactory academic progress, and enrollment. 
• International students interested in obtaining a private student loan may need a credit-worthy U.S. citizen/permanent resident cosigner.