I have received my financial aid award package. What are my next steps?
You do not need to do anything to accept your scholarships and grants. Those will automatically be applied to your student account. You will receive half of your scholarships and grants for the fall and half for the spring.
You do need to accept/decline your loan offers. Instructions for this are included later in the FAQs.
I am wondering about other scholarship and grant opportunities at Northwestern. Is there anything else that I can apply for from Northwestern?
We do our best to include all financial aid opportunities available to you in your award notification.
We do have an appeal process for unusual financial circumstances that cannot be reported on the FAFSA. If you are considered a dependent on the FAFSA, please have your parent complete the Parent Appeal Form. If you are considered an independent on the FAFSA, please complete the Student Appeal Form. The appeal forms can be found here. You will need to submit the appeal form to the Financial Aid Office, with supporting documentation. We cannot make any promises, but it is possible that with an appeal, we might be able to offer additional need-based grants.
You will have the opportunity to apply for the Northwestern Scholarship in fall 2024. The Northwestern Scholarship is available to all continuing/returning students. The Northwestern Scholarship Application will be available on myUNW during the fall semester. If you are awarded the Northwestern Scholarship, you will receive the scholarship for the 25/26 academic year at Northwestern. Students will be notified when it is time to apply for the Northwestern Scholarship.
Do I need to apply every year for financial aid?
You do need to apply for the FAFSA every year to be considered for need-based grants and student loans. The FAFSA application is available after October 1st prior to the year for which you are applying for financial aid. The 2024-25 FAFSA is expected to be available in December 2023.
As long as you continue to meet the necessary requirements to keep your UNW scholarships, your scholarships will be carried forward automatically. You do not need to complete the FAFSA if you know that you won't qualify for need-based grants and/or you are not interested in student loans.
We start awarding continuing/returning students during the spring semester prior to following fall semester. You will receive your Financial Aid Award letter at your UNW email.
Why have I not received a financial aid package?
If you have not received a financial aid award package from us, it may be for one of the following reasons:
- Northwestern has not received your completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA can be completed online. You should receive an award package from us within one to two weeks of Northwestern’s receipt of your FAFSA, as long as you are not selected for verification.
- Your FAFSA was received by Northwestern, but there is a ‘hold’ on the FAFSA because of an error or because the Financial Aid Office requires additional information from you. If this is the case, the Financial Aid Office contacted you by email to explain what was needed. Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions.
- You do not intend to complete the FAFSA. Financial aid award packets are not sent to students who will not be completing the FAFSA. FAFSA is not required to receive Northwestern scholarships. Your Northwestern scholarships will automatically be applied to your student account at the beginning of the semester. You will receive half of the scholarship award in fall and the other half in spring.
How do I apply for student loans?
To accept a loan offered on your Award Letter follow these instructions:
- Log in to myUNW
- Under Pages, select Financial Aid (Financial Aid Information and Resources)
- Under Resources, select View Your Financial Aid
- Update Award Year (upper right corner)
- Go to Award Offer to accept, change amount, or decline any of the loans offered
- Complete additional loan requirements defined on Loan Options if they apply to you.
