Applying Grant & Scholarship Aid to Your Student Account
Depending upon the type of grant or scholarship award you received, there may be steps you need to take to ensure that the aid is reflected on your student account and bill.
Institutional grant & scholarship aid awarded by Northwestern
Institutional grant and scholarship aid awarded to you by a department or school at Northwestern are automatically disbursed to your student account for the term for which the aid was awarded, as long as you have accepted the award with the department or school. If you have any questions about institutional grant or scholarship awards or how to accept any awarded aid, please contact the department or school that awarded the aid.
Outside scholarship aid
Students should alert the Office of Financial Aid as soon as they are notified that they are a recipient of an outside scholarship. If our office receives notification before your initial financial aid package is released, the outside scholarship will be included in your initial financial aid package. If a student is notified after they receive their initial financial aid package, they should email our office and notify us of the name of the scholarship and the amount of the award. If a student has accepted 100% of their loan assistance, the Office of Financial Aid will be required to replace an equal portion of their loan assistance with the scholarship aid to make room in the cost of attendance for the outside scholarship. If a student has declined a portion of their loan assistance equal to or greater than the amount of the scholarship, their other aid will not be affected.
Outside scholarship checks should be dropped off or mailed to our office. We are located on the 6th floor of Abbott Hall, and our address is:
Chicago Office of Financial Aid
Northwestern University
710 N. Lake Shore Drive, Suite 629
Chicago, IL 60611
If the check is made out to you (or to you as well as Northwestern), you must sign the check before our office can disburse it to your student account.