Kellogg Evening & Weekend MBA

Although the 2020-2021 financial aid year includes Summer 2020 through Spring 2021, we are currently releasing financial aid notices containing information about loans available for the Summer Quarter only. After Kellogg announces tuition for next year, we will send students an updated financial aid  notice that that will contain loan offers for the rest of the academic year based on the enrollment the student reported on the university aid application.

Once a student receives their financial aid notice for the Summer Quarter, they will be directed to log into CAESAR to accept, reduce or decline the offered funds. They will receive a second financial aid notice when we are able to offer the funds for the Fall-Spring Quarters and will need to log into CAESAR a second time to complete the Accept/Decline process for the Fall-Spring loans. We apologize for this inconvenience, but we wanted to make sure that student received their Summer Quarter financial aid information in time for the Summer Quarter tuition bill.

As a reminder, student must be in enrolled in 2 units in a term to qualify for federal student loans. If a student will be enrolled in less than 2 units we can provide them with information about private education loans. Please feel free to contact the Chicago Financial Aid Office for more information.

The current interest rate on federal student loans with a first disbursement between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 is fixed interest rate of 6.08% for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan and 7.08% for the Federal Direct GradPLUS. The Department of Education recently announced the new interest rates for loans with a first disbursement between July 1 2020 and June 30, 2021.  They are a fixed interest rate of 4.3% for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan and 5.3% for the Federal Direct GradPLUS Loan.

In order to allow Kellogg students to take advantage of these lower rates, we are holding the disbursement of the Summer Quarter federal student loans until July 1, thus locking in the lower rate for federal loans borrowed in the 2020-21 academic year. If a student's loans will cover more than tuition and fees, they will be able to request a refund on/after July 1. If a student needs to receive a refund prior to July 1 to assist with the purchase of books or with living expenses, we can work with Student Finance to provide a funding advance of up to $1,500 if all necessary steps have been completed for the Summer Quarter loan. Please contact the Chicago Financial Aid Office for more information about receiving a funding advance for summer 2020.

As you may have heard, part of the CARES Act contains relief for many student loan borrowers. Specifically, for federally held loans, this means:

• Interest rates have been reduced to 0% on all federally held student loans from March 13^th through September 30^th, 2020
• Payments on federally held student loans are automatically suspended through September 30, 2020.

 

We do want to provide few points of clarification:

-This applies to only borrowers with federally held student loans.

All Federal Direct Loans (the type of federal student loan offered to you while you’re attending Kellogg) are included. If you had federal loans as an undergraduate student, these are most likely Direct Loans as well, with the exception of the Perkins Loan.

Many Perkins Loans may still held by your undergraduate institution and so you will need to check with your undergraduate institution to determine the status of your Perkins Loan. 

If you borrowed federal loans as an undergraduate prior to July 1, 2010, you  may have borrowed under the Federal Family Education Loan Program or FFEL Loan program. Although these are federal loans, many are still held by commercial lenders and so unfortunately currently do not qualify for these benefits. You should check with your servicer/loan holder to determine the status of your loan.

- The 0% interest rate applies to loans that are in an in-school status and in a grace period as well as in a repayment status.

-If you have private loans (loans through private educational lenders like Sallie Mae, Discover or Wells Fargo) these loans are not covered under the CARES Act. Many private and institutional lenders are offering options for assisting students while in repayment. Please make sure to reach out to your lender for more information (most lenders have provided information prominently on their websites)

A great resource to keep up to date on all COVID-related changes to federally held student loans is the federal studentaid.gov COVID resource page

CAESAR is the Northwestern University’s Student Information Portal.

You will need your NetID and password to log onto to CAESAR. A few of the things that you can do on CAESAR include checking the status of your financial aid application in “To Do Item History” or your “To Do List”, accepting or declining your financial aid award, viewing your account and paying your ebill.  You can also access your online University Aid application via your “To-Do List“, if you have not yet completed this form.

You should apply for financial aid if you will need assistance funding your program.  After you have completed the financial aid application process we can determine your eligibility for the Unsubsidized Stafford loan and the Graduate Plus loan which are awarded to eligible students regardless of financial need.   

To qualify for federal financial aid, students must be a degree seeking student enrolled in a minimum of two units.

Grant assistance is not available to students enrolled in the Evening & Weekend MBA program. Although the Evening & Weekend MBA Program does not offer grant assistance to students, there are a variety of scholarship programs offered through various civic and professional organizations, state agencies and private foundations. The FinAid site and Scholarships.com are just two of the free scholarship search engines available online.

The federal government offers two loans: the Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loan and the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan.  To participate in the federal loan programs you must meet the criteria for federal financial aid listed above. Additional information on the Federal Direct Loan program can be found on the Loans for Graduate Students page. Private loan assistance is also available for students enrolled less than half-time or students who do not otherwise qualify for federal loan assistance. Additional information on private loans can be found on the Student Financial Services website.

Students must enroll in two full units (2.00) in a term in order to be eligible for federal loans.

Students enrolled in less than two units are not eligible for federal loans during that term, but may apply for a private loan to cover tuition costs and books. Please reference the private loan section above for additional information on private loans.

Federal regulations require that recipients of federal financial aid maintain satisfactory academic progress in their program of study. It is the University's expectation that students will make progress towards completion of the degree in which they are enrolled. These requirements apply to part-time as well as to full-time students for all terms of enrollment within an academic year, including those terms for which no financial aid was granted.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) for federal financial aid purposes is reviewed at the end of each academic term.  Students who do not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress will have their aid suspended for the next term of enrollment.  You can find more information about the Kellogg Evening & Weekend MBA Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, as well as the requirements to demonstrate Satisfactory Academic Progress, on our website.

Students participating in their employer’s reimbursement program can still apply for financial aid.  Federal guidelines require that we take into consideration outside resources such as tuition reimbursement when determining your award. Please be advised that the amount received in employer reimbursement will impact the amount that we are able to offer in the form of student loans.

International students interested in financial aid are offered private student loans. Of the private loan programs that we are aware of, most require a U.S. cosigner for international students. The interest rate on these loans is determined by the lender based on a variable index such as the Prime Rate or the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) plus a margin based on credit score and credit history. The interest rate on private loans is variable and interest will begin to accrue once the loan is disbursed. Additional information on evaluating private loans can be found at FinAid website. Please reference our private loan webpage for additional information on private loans.

The Department of Education defines an eligible noncitizen as someone who meets the following criteria:

• A U.S. permanent resident who has an I-151, I-551 or I-551C permanent resident card
• A person holding an Arrival Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with any of the following designations:
  • Refugee
  • Asylum granted
  • Parolee
  • Victim of human trafficking T-Visa (T-2, T-3 or T-4) holder
  • Cuban-Haitian entrant
  • Conditional Entrant (valid only if issued before April 1, 1980)

You can find complete instructions on how to apply for financial aid for the Evening & Weekend MBA Program in the Application Steps page.

New students should apply for financial aid once they have been admitted into the Evening & Weekend MBA Program. Please check the financial aid application deadlines found on the Chicago Office of Financial Aid Web site at: chicagofinancialaid.northwestern.edu. Continuing students will need to re-apply for financial aid each spring.

Yes. Students must complete a financial aid application each academic year. The new academic year begins Summer quarter. Students should re-apply for financial aid by the summer quarter deadline if they are taking classes during that time. Deadline dates by term can be found on our website.

Once your application for financial aid is complete we ask that you allow 4 to 6 weeks for the determination of your award.  During this time, you will not be contacted by the Financial Aid Office unless we require additional documentation.  Please make sure to log onto CAESAR and check your “To Do Items” to make sure that you do not have any outstanding documents necessary to complete your financial aid application.

You will receive your financial aid award notice via email and it will be sent to your Northwestern email address.  This email will provide instructions on how to accept, reduce or decline your financial aid offers as well as information about any loan documents that will be necessary for you to complete to receive your loan funds.  This information will also be listed in your “To Do List” on CAESAR.

Once you have completed the Accept/Decline Financial Aid process and any necessary loan documents, your funds for the quarter will disburse by the first day of classes or within seven business days of the completion of all necessary documents if the quarter has already begun.

We recommend checking the following:

• Check the date your application was completed.  We ask that you allow 4 to 6 weeks for processing after your application is completed
• Check your ‘To Do’ list in CAESAR to determine if additional documents are needed to complete your financial aid application.
• Check your Northwestern University email account.  Official notification of your financial aid award will be sent to your Northwestern email account.
• After reviewing all of the above and allowing 4 to 6 weeks, please contact the Office of Financial Aid for additional assistance regarding the status of your application. 

The Office of Financial Aid cannot guarantee that your financial aid award will be processed, or that funds will be posted to your account, by the first day of classes. This may result in late fees, registration/transcript holds, and not receiving a book expense refund in a timely manner. If the deadline date has passed, please submit the missing items immediately.  Once your application for financial aid is complete, we ask that you allow 4 to 6 weeks for the determination of your award. Please be sure to view your ‘To Do’ list to confirm that no further information is required and all documents have been received.

Documentation of your citizenship status, selective service compliance or documentation to confirm your name and/or date of birth may be requested if comments listed on your SAR indicate that the Federal Processor was unable to confirm some of the information provided on your FAFSA.  In cases such as these additional information must be collected by the Financial Aid Office to resolve the discrepancy before federal financial is can be award.

There are also cases where we will request copies of your federal tax return and W-2s. This will occur if your FAFSA is randomly selected by the Department of Education for a process called Verification.  If the comments section of your SAR indicates that you have been selected for Verification, additional documents must be submitted and reviewed by the Office of Financial Aid before financial aid can be awarded.

Your ‘To Do’ list found on the homepage of your CAESAR account will list outstanding items needed to complete your financial aid request.

An award notification e-mail will be sent to your Northwestern email address. The email will contain instructions on steps needed to finalize your award.

There are several components taken into consideration when determining a student's financial need. A student's Expected Contribution is determined by information provided on the FAFSA. The Expected Contribution is then subtracted from the student's cost of attendance, which is an estimate of the expenses a student will incur during the academic year. The end result is the student's financial need.

See the tuition section for updated figures. Tuition typically increases by a small percentage each academic year.

An e-bill will be sent to your Northwestern e-mail account after the 10th of each month. Account balances not covered by financial aid are due by the first of the following month. Please visit the Student Financial Services website at for additional information on billing and payment dates.

Please note that the information on your bill will be as of the 10th of the month. Any activity that has occurred after the 10th of the month will not appear on your bill until the following month. For a real-time view of your account, please log into CAESAR and select View My Account.

The Office of Financial Aid typically offers students financial aid to cover tuition and books.  Your financial aid award will consist of your student loans and any outside resource, such as employer reimbursement, that you may receive. Please be advised that the amount received in employer reimbursement will impact the amount that we are able to offer in the form of student loans.

If your financial aid has not been determined, you may use personal funds to pay tuition charges up front to avoid late fees.  Once your financial aid award has been determined and funds have posted to your student account, you can reimburse yourself.  For more information on payment options, please see the Student Finance website.

If your financial aid application was completed by the deadline date and you borrowed funds in excess of tuition, the remaining funds will be available to you for a refund after the first day of classes each term.  Once the loans have posted to your student account, you can request a refund of the credit balance that can be used to pay for books.

If your application for financial aid was completed after the deadline date, you will be expected to use your own funds to pay for books and reimburse yourself after loans have posted to your student account.

The following payment methods are available to Evening & Weekend MBA students:

• A check or money order made payable to Northwestern University can be mailed to the Student Finance Office at 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611.
• A credit card (American Express, Discover and MasterCard) payment can be made online via the QuickPay system.   A 2.75% service fee is assessed on all online credit card payments.  Students can access the QuickPay system by selecting the E-Bill and E-Payment link located on the homepage of their CAESAR account.
• In person credit card payments (Visa/MasterCard only) can also be made at the Evening & Weekend MBA Program office. A schedule of dates and times when payments can be submitted is available on the Tuition Payments/Financial Aid section of the Evening & Weekend MBA Student Intranet.
• The Employer Reimbursement Plan administered by the Office of Student Finance is designed for students whose employer offers reimbursement for tuition charges. It allows participants to defer their tuition payments until after the term has been completed. Additional information on this plan can be found on the Tuition Reimbursement page on the Student Financial Services website.
• If a third party such as your employer or other sponsor pays your tuition at the beginning of the term without stipulations, the Office of Student Finance is able to facilitate the billing and payment process for you. Learn more about Third Party Billing.

You can access your account balance through the ‘My Account’ tile located on the homepage of your CAESAR account. If your financial aid award has been determined, it will be displayed in the section labeled ‘Anticipated Aid’.  You will be responsible for any charges not covered by your loan funds.

For more information about the billing and payment process or how to request a refund of a credit balance, please see the Student Finance website.

The Office of Student Finance will place a hold on your account if there is a past due balance owed to the University. The balance must be resolved before the hold can be lifted.

The following tax benefits are available to help students reduce their educational costs: the Hope Scholarship, Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, Tuition and Fees Deduction and the Student Loan Interest Deduction. The Student Financial Services website will direct you to additional information on each benefit. In depth information on program requirements can also be found in IRS Publication 970 available on the IRS website.

If your loans have been disbursed to your student account you can request a refund through your CAESAR account.  We recommend setting up direct deposit through CAESAR as this is the quickest way to receive your refund. If you do not have an account set up for direct deposit, the Office of Student Finance will process your refund in the form of a check. All refund requests must be reviewed by the Office of Student Finance before funds can be deposited into your bank account or a refund check is mailed. The Office of Student Finance will send an e-mail notification to your Northwestern e-mail address once the refund has been processed. The Financial Aid Refunds page on the Student Financial Services website will direct you to additional information on setting up direct deposit and steps needed to request a refund via CAESAR.

Loan funds are disbursed to Northwestern University at the start of classes each term and will be applied to any charges (i.e. tuition) on your student account.  If you borrow funds in excess of tuition, the remaining funds will be available to you for a refund after the first day of classes each term. You will be responsible for any charges not covered by your loan fun

No. Students who wish to reduce or cancel their loans can e-mail the Office of Financial Aid from their Northwestern e-mail account and request to reduce their loan assistance. Students must include their name and student ID number and state the loan program they wish to reduce or cancel. If they wish to reduce the loan and not completely cancel it, they should state the amount to which they want the loan reduced.

The amount posted to your student account reflects the gross amount less origination fees.  For additional information on loan origination fees please see the section on federal loans

Repayment on your Federal Stafford loans will begin after you are no longer enrolled at least half-time and a six month grace period has elapsed. You can expect to begin repayment on your Graduate PLUS loan 45 days after you are no longer enrolled at least halftime. Though the Graduate PLUS loan does not have a six month grace period, students may request a six month forbearance so that repayment on their Graduate PLUS loan will start at the same time as their Stafford loan repayment.

Students entering repayment on their federal loans can chose from the following payment plans:

1. Standard Repayment Plan- Under this plan the borrower will make fixed monthly payments for up to 10 years. The minimum monthly payment amount is $50. This plan may be good for borrowers who can manage larger monthly payments and want to repay the loan quickly.
2. Graduated Repayment Plan- Under this plan the borrower will make lower monthly payments initially with payment amounts gradually increasing every two years. The borrower has up to 10 years to repay the loan. This plan may be good for borrowers who expect their income to increase steadily over time.
3. Extended Repayment Plan- To be eligible for this plan the borrower’s federal loan debt must be greater than $30,000. The borrower should also have no Direct Loan balance as of October 7, 1998.   Under this plan the borrower will make lower monthly payments based on fixed annual or graduated repayment amounts and will have up to 25 years to repay the loan.  This plan may be good for borrowers needing smaller monthly payments. This plan extends the repayment period of the loan resulting in more interest being paid. 
4. Income-Contingent Repayment Plan- Under this plan the borrower’s monthly payments will be adjusted annually based on their adjusted gross income. The maximum repayment period is 25 years. At the end of the 25 year period the unpaid balance is discharged. The student may be taxed on the discharged amount.
5. Income-Based Repayment Plan- Under this plan monthly payments are based on income and family size. The borrowers must be experiencing a partial financial hardship when selecting this plan. The maximum repayment period is 25 years.
   The Federal Student Aid site has a loan calculator where you can estimate your monthly payment amount under each plan.

Because grace periods can vary based on the loan (repayment typically begins 6 months after the last date of at least half-time enrollment for Federal Direct Stafford loans and 30 days for Federal Direct GradPLUS Loans) please contact the Chicago Financial Aid Office and we can review your enrollment status and loans to determine if you will enter repayment.

A listing of federal loans borrowed while enrolled at Northwestern University can be accessed via your CAESAR account by selecting the ‘View Debt Summary Information’ link.  The amounts listed in CAESAR do not include accrued interest or any payments that you may have made to the servicer of your loans. Students can visit the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website to obtain the most up to date balance information on their federal student loans.

Yes. The Collins Family Loan Assistance Program is open to all Kellogg graduates. This program assists eligible graduates entering careers in the public and nonprofit sectors by paying a percentage of their student loan debt during the time they are employed full-time in a low-salaried position in the public or nonprofit sector. Additional information on this program can be found on the Kellogg Website

If you withdraw from one or both courses during a term in which federal loans have been disbursed, loan funds may need to be returned if 60% of the term has not elapsed. You will be responsible for paying any resulting tuition balance using your own funds.

If a student rejects a portion of their loan assistance and decides later that they need those funds, they can request that the Office of Financial Aid increase their loan.  Students requesting to increase their loan should send an e-mail to the Office of Financial Aid from their NU e-mail account. The e-mail should include the student’s name, student ID and the amount needed and the term for which it is needed.  Additional loan assistance can be awarded in an amount up to the cost of attendance budget less aid previously awarded aid and outside resources such as employer reimbursement

Yes. Evening and Weekend MBA students are typically offered financial aid (loan funding) to cover tuition, fees (if any) and a book allowance. Students who need assistance with other living expenses, including travel-related expenses, should contact the Chicago Financial Aid Office and we can provide you with your additional loan eligibility.

If your enrollment has increased from what you reported on the university aid application and you need additional loan assistance to cover additional tuition charges, please email our office at financial-aid-chicago@northwestern.edu and we can adjust your aid accordingly.

Yes, the Chicago Financial Aid Office would be happy to work with you to put together a budget for your estimated travel costs (typically airfare and hotel/lodging while in Chicago) in order to offer you additional loan funding to cover those expenses.