How to Return Loan Funding
Students who borrow loan funding and later find that they do not need all of the funding can return excess funds to their loan lender/servicer through the University.
Federal student loans
Any accrued interest and origination fees on returned funding will be canceled by your federally-assigned loan servicer as long as the funding is returned within 120 days of when it originally disbursed (i.e. was paid out to your Northwestern student account). The University can return funds on your behalf at any time during the academic year for which you received the funds, but your servicer will only forgive interest accrued on the loan if the funds are returned within 120 days of when the funds originally disbursed to your student account.
If you would like the University to return federal student loan funds that appear as a credit on your Northwestern account, you need to email our office from your Northwestern email account and state your full name, your student ID number, and request the exact net amount you wish to have returned to your federal loan servicer. Please allow 5 business days for to us to process a return.
If you would like the University to return federal student loan funds that do not appear as a credit on your Northwestern account, you must first make a payment to your student account via CAESAR for the net amount you wish to return (i.e. no more than the amount that originally disbursed to your student account). Once an official credit appears on your account in CAESAR, you must then email our office from your Northwestern email account and state your name, your student ID number, and request the exact net amount you wish to have returned to your federal loan servicer. Please allow 5 business days for to us to process a return.
Borrowers are assigned to a loan servicer by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are not sure who your assigned federal loan servicer is, you can log into the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid website to determine your servicer and review all federal loans borrowed over the course of your lifetime. You may also call 1-800-4-FED-AID to determine your servicer.
Private student loans
You must contact your lender to determine whether accrued interest and/or origination fees can be canceled and if any applicable return timeframes may apply.
If you would like the University to return private student loan funds that appear as a credit on your Northwestern account, you need to email our office from your Northwestern email account and state your full name, your student ID, and request the exact net amount you wish to have returned to your private lender. Please allow 5 business days for to us to process a return.
If you would like the University to return private student loan funds that do not appear as a credit on your Northwestern account, you must first make a payment to your student account via CAESAR for the net amount you wish to return (i.e. no more than the amount that originally disbursed to your student account). Once an official credit appears on your student account in CAESAR, you must then email our office from your Northwestern email account and state your name, your student ID, and request the exact net amount you wish to have returned to your private lender. Please allow 5 business days for to us to process a return.