Student Concerns & Complaints
Student concerns and complaints about Northwestern and the services provided are issues that Northwestern takes very seriously. We care deeply about ensuring that all students enjoy a healthy, productive and enriching experience as they pursue their education.
We realize there may be an occasion where students have a concern or complaint, and we seek to provide an efficient response and resolution in these matters. We have established several situation-specific processes for students to express their concerns or complaints. We strongly encourage students to attempt to resolve the situation directly with the offending person/department/office prior to filing an official concern or complaint. More information which includes our policies and procedures may be found at my.unw.edu/pages/student-concerns-complaint (login required).
Students enrolled in online courses through the University of Northwestern may submit initial concerns or complaints via the outlined procedure found here and on the internal webpage listed above. If resolution is not achieved through contact with Northwestern, students residing in a National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) state, pursuant to the NC-SARA Complaint Process, may contact our SARA State Portal Entity at the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. More Information on NC-SARA may be found at nc-sara.org/.
If, after filing a concern or complaint through the university process, you feel there is still an unresolved issue, you may express this to the appropriate state authorizer, accrediting body, or federal office listed below.
Minnesota Office of Higher Education
Institutional Licensing and Registration
1450 Energy Park Drive, Suite 350
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Phone: (651) 25-3965
Higher Learning Commission
230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: (800) 621-7440
National Association of Schools of Music
11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21
Reston, VA 20190-5248
Phone: (703) 437-0700
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
655 K Street, NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 887-6791
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Email: [email protected]
The Office of Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Telephone: (800) 421-3481
Facsimile: 202-453-6012 TDD#: 800-877-8339
Email: [email protected]
