Even if you think you won't qualify for financial aid, we strongly encourage you to fill out the FAFSA. You may be eligible for more aid than you think. Northern Illinois University uses the results of the FAFSA, along with academic credentials, to determine eligibility for additional grants. Also, if your financial situation changes mid-year and you need to apply for a student loan, you will need to fill out the FAFSA if you haven't already done so.

To be eligible for financial aid:

• You must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
• If you are male, between ages of 18 and 25, you must register with Selective Service.
• You must have earned a high school diploma or equivalent such as the General Education Development (GED) High School Equivalency Diploma, or have completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law, or have an associate's degree, or have successfully completed at least 60 semester credit hours that is acceptable for a bachelor's degree.
• You must be working toward a degree or certificate recognized under the gainful employment rule. Students not admitted for a degree may be eligible for Federal Direct Loans if enrolled for at least half-time in course work necessary to be admitted to a program (preparatory coursework) or required for elementary or secondary teacher certification (licensure). Approved students may only receive federal loans under the preparatory coursework provision for a maximum of one calendar year.

If you are not a citizen, you must be a U.S. permanent resident who has one of the following:

• An Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-551)
• Conditional permanent residence (I-551C)
• An Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing that you are a refugee, asylum granted, parolee (I-94 confirms paroled for a minimum of one year and status has not expired), victim of human trafficking, T-Visa holder (T-1, T-2, T-3, etc.), Cuban-Haitian entrant

You are not eligible if:

• You are in the United States on an F1 or F2 student visa, J1 or J2 exchange visitor visa or a G series visa
• You are enrolled at NIU under the "visiting student" status
• You are neither U.S. citizens nor eligible non-citizens (see above)
• You are incarcerated in a prison facility. Students who are incarcerated must notify the university at the time of application.
• You are convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an offense that occurred while receiving federal student aid. This includes grants, loans or work-study

The FAFSA application process opens on October 1 for the following academic year.

The Estimated College Cost (ECC) is a projection of expenses you can expect to incur during the course of your education. The ECC includes both expenses that are charged directly by NIU and reasonable estimates of other necessary living expenses that the student will incur during the course of study.

Costs are determined by taking modest averages of anticipated expenses for a group of students to develop an estimate of yearly expenses.

These projections are used to determine what you may be eligible to receive in financial aid.

Estimated College Cost is comprised of five key expenses. These expenses include tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, travel and miscellaneous personal expenses.

• Tuition and Fees are the expenses necessary to attend classes. Tuition and fees are based on student residency, enrollment and degree level. As part of the Illinois Truth-in-Tuition Bill, NIU offers first-time degree seeking undergraduate students guaranteed tuition at the same rate for four consecutive years. Students with higher than average tuition and fees can appeal to have this budget component adjusted.
• Room and Board represents the costs associated with providing the student with housing and food. For students living on campus or off campus, the room and board expense is determined by using the average cost of living in all residency hall options, assuming double occupancy, and purchase of the Huskie 65/Unlimited Access Plan. Commuting students will have a lower room and board component in their estimated budget. Students who are able to demonstrate a need to reside off campus may appeal to have the room and board allowance adjusted.
• Books and Supplies expenses are for the purchase of books and supplies which can vary by program, enrollment and class. Costs for books and supplies represent the average across all programs assuming a full time course load.
• Travel costs allow for the purchase of items for students to come to campus. Travel costs are not directly assessed by the university but may include such expenses as gasoline/oil and regular vehicle maintenance.
• Miscellaneous Personal Expenses can be comprised of costs for the purchase of clothing, personal items or recreation. Personal expenses may vary based on a student’s lifestyle but students may not appeal for an adjustment of miscellaneous personal expenses.

Each year, we work with students and their families to help make an NIU education more affordable. We assist them in navigating through the financial aid application process and work with them to identify grants, loans and scholarship opportunities for which they may be eligible.

We recognize the financial commitment you and your family are making and encourage you to consider the importance of applying for financial aid. For additional information about your financial aid options, please reference Types of Aid.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss your individual circumstances and what financial aid resources may be available to make an NIU education within your reach.

To ensure prompt processing, scan documents and email the images to finaid@niu.edu or fax to 815-753-9475. Be sure to include both sides of the document. Mailing documents may result in longer processing times. Documents are processed in the date order received and processing time can vary depending on the specific documents submitted. Basic verification documents such as the Household Size Form or federal tax return transcripts will normally be reviewed within 4 days of submission. Be sure to monitor your Z-ID student email account, and your MyNIU To Do List, as these are the methods by which we would inform you if we needed clarification on anything.

If you or your parents have applied for a PLUS Loan online, you should expect the resulting loan amount to be visible on your awards screen within roughly a week. Private loans will take at least two weeks, due to the federal Truth In Lending Act.

Eligibility for the full amount of the Federal Pell Grant and/or Illinois MAP Grant is contingent on enrollment in a certain amount of credit hours (12 credit hours for Pell, 15 credit hours for MAP). When initially packaging you with these awards, we assume you will be enrolled in enough hours to qualify for the full amount. Recipients who are enrolled in fewer hours will receive adjusted, lower amounts of these awards. At various points prior to disbursement, the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office reviews a student's current hours of enrollment and adjusts these awards accordingly. This is considered the best practice in order to ensure that students have the most accurate information about their pending aid at any given time.

The Department of Education requires schools participating in the Title IV federal aid program to periodically adjust student budgets based on their level of enrollment; i.e. full-time, half-time and less than half-time. If your cost of attendance changed, it is most likely the result of the amount of hours you are enrolled in for the term.

Financial aid awards are generally calculated and issued prior to the beginning of a school year. Financial aid awards are based on an assumption of full-time enrollment until the week before a semester begins unless you have requested a part-time award.

Students register for upcoming semesters over time and may make numerous changes to their schedule and number of registered hours. This means that, for any given student, the number of registered hours fluctuates and for some students is not final until the first week of a semester.

The majority of NIU undergraduate students enroll full-time and need to know what their financial aid will be based on a status of full-time.

If, at any point during your NIU career, you plan to attend the following semester part-time and want your early award notification to reflect your plan, simply contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office and let us know how many hours you plan to take.

Financial aid awards adjust to actual registered hours the week prior to the start of each semester and again at the end of the add/drop period for the semester.

See Student Rights and Responsibilities

NIU issues a monthly account/billing statement. It is a snapshot in time and reflects actual charges, payments, and anticipated financial aid credits at the moment the bill is produced. This snapshot does not change until the next month.

The Term Account Detail in MyNIU is real-time and will change as payments are made and charges incurred. The anticipated financial aid will remain calculated and displayed for full-time, regardless of current registration, until one week prior to the beginning of a semester unless a part-time award has been requested.

Fall semester charges and pending aid are reflected beginning on the July statement and charges and pending aid for spring on the November statement.

NIU students who complete a FAFSA can charge books to their NIU account. Book charges will increase the amount due on any previous statements.

The charges and amount due on account statements and Term Account Detail prior to the beginning of a semester will increase if you register for additional courses, charge books or otherwise incur costs subsequent to reviewing the account balance. Conversely, the charges and amount due may decrease if you drop a course, waive health insurance or make a payment prior to the start of a term.

It is important to remember that your pending aid is the maximum aid assuming eventual full-time enrollment for future terms unless you have requested a part-time award but your charges are “to date.”

If you are registered full-time, have a financial aid award and have your housing option completed if on campus, the Term Account Detail and Account Statement will provide the amount you will owe unless you change housing options, charge books, etc.

If you have not yet registered for all courses but intend to be full-time and have a financial aid award, use the Tuition Estimator to determine what your full-time tuition and fees will be and add the difference in the estimator amount and the amount you have been charged based on current registration. As soon as your registration is complete, view Term Account Detail for balance.

If you plan to attend part-time, have requested a part-time financial aid award and have completed registration, the Term Account Detail and Account Statement will provide the amount you will owe unless you charge books, change registration, etc.

Awarded financial aid that is restricted to paying NIU educationally related charges is reflected under payments beginning with the July bill date for fall and November bill date for spring. The aid that disburses before a semester begins does not create a refundable credit balance. Other aid, that is refundable if all aid exceeds charges, such as the Federal Pell Grant and Federal Direct Loans, will show as pending aid until the end of the add/drop period for the respective semester.

Refunds of credit balances from aid cannot be made until registration is closed for semester courses. The add/drop period extends through the first two weeks of classes. On Monday of the third week of classes, registration will be final for full and first half classes, all aid will disburse and refunds (if there is a credit balance) will be issued. Bookstore charges or tuition and fees related to late registration or second half courses could create an amount due even for students who have received a refund.

For purposes of determining what a student owes for a semester, assigning financial holds, assessing late fees or calculating payment plan amounts prior to the start of a term, aid that is listed under “Payments” or “Pending” is treated the same.

Financial aid awards are determined based on the information provided in the 2018-2019 FAFSA. New students who completed their FAFSA using estimated 2016 tax information may be offered an estimated award letter which will expire after the fall 2018 semester if actual tax information is not provided on a subsequent FAFSA. Continuing students who estimated 2016 tax information must update their FAFSA with actual tax information before being issued an award notification. Before offering an award the information must be verified to be accurate for students who have been selected for verification. Additionally the award is offered assuming you will be enrolled full time for the entire academic year. Any changes to enrollment status may affect the amount of financial aid you are eligible to receive. Please contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office if you have any questions about how your enrollment status may affect your financial aid eligibility.

New and transfer students attending Northern Illinois University for the first time can expect to receive their financial aid award notifications by the end of March. Award notifications for continuing students are expected to be sent out in May. Students who are selected for verification must provide all required documents in order to be offered an award letter. All students are encouraged to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to provide actual tax information once 2016 taxes have been filed.

There are two types of aid you must accept, merit-based scholarships and federal student loans. While you are encouraged to accept all sources of financial aid as soon as possible, you may accept aid at almost any point within the academic year with the following exceptions:

Merit-based scholarships must be accepted by the date indicated in the scholarship notification letter.

Federal student loans must be accepted prior to the last day of the term you are attending.

Federal, state and institutional grants are automatically accepted.

Cost of Attendance (also known as the Budget) represents an estimate of all of the expenses you can expect to pay while attending college. This amount includes expenses such as travel and miscellaneous personal expenses you may incur but that are not charged by the university. To estimate what the actual costs are you will be charged by the university, you are encouraged to visit the NIU Planning and Cost Estimator available through the Office of the Bursar. This tool allows you to input some general information such as the number of hours to attend for the year and select a residence hall to project the anticipated expenses for the academic year.

• a biological parent of the student.
• married to a biological parent of the student whose information is provided on the relevant academic year's FAFSA.
• the legal adoptive parent of the student.

In addition, the parent borrower must be either a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen, and must not be in default or owe a refund to any financial aid program. The student must be enrolled at least half-time (six hours per semester).

The parent must submit to a credit check by the United States Department of Education to be eligible for a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan. You authorize the credit check when you sign the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan Request Form. To be approved the parent must have a satisfactory credit history. However, income-to-debt ratio is not considered.

Application Process

• Parents should go to the Federal Student Aid website and 'Sign In.'
  • Parents sign in using the same FSAID they used to sign the FAFSA. FSAIDs can be requested at the Federal Student Loan website if they do not already have one.
• Click 'Request PLUS Loan'
• Choose 'Parent PLUS'
• Follow the steps to complete the application

Master Promissory Note (MPN): Required for first-time PLUS borrowers

• Go to the Federal Student Aid website and follow the same 'Sign In' steps as above
• Click 'Complete MPN'
• Choose 'Parent PLUS'
• Follow the steps to complete the promissory note

Northern Illinois University offers several types of scholarships. Merit scholarships are awarded to new students at the time of admission, and are based upon high school or transfer academic credentials. Merit scholarships are automatic and do not require a separate application. Other institutional or donor-funded scholarship opportunities are available from various academic and student service departments; those scholarships require an application through MyScholarships (previously known as AcademicWorks).

Visit the MyScholarships home page. You don't have to log in to search for scholarships. The search will return any scholarship with the search term in the title or description of the scholarship.

You can go into the student's MyNIU account. On the 'Student Center' page, about a third of the way down is a blue line that says 'Finances;' under it, click on 'Term Account Detail,' then click on the specific semester you are looking for. This will show you all of the exact charges, payments, financial aid, pending financial aid and refund information for that semester. Please note that it's a snapshot page. You will need to print it if you need it for future reference. If anything on the account changes, the information on this page will change. For more information please go to the Bursar Office website.

Students will not be dropped from their classes or dismissed from the residence halls if their entire balance is not paid as of the end of the first billing period. Payment of all charges for a term is due one week prior to the start of the term to which the charges apply. Through this account, students can pay the full account balance at this time or an amount less than the full amount. Students who pay less than the total amount due by the respective due date will be assessed a monthly late payment fee of 1.08% on the remaining unpaid portion, with a minimum late fee charge of $0.50. For additional information regarding payment policies please visit the Bursar Office website.

For the majority of students, disbursements occur about two weeks after classes begin (earlier for Law students). Refunds will be generated over the rest of the third week of classes. To receive a refund, you must have financial aid in excess of your charges. We recommend that students consider signing up to have their refund directly deposited into their personal bank account. Refund checks will be sent through the mail to students who do not take advantage of this service. Parent borrowers who opt to have any Parent PLUS refunds sent to the borrow rather than to the student have the option to receive the refund as a direct deposit or paper check.

NIU has a very flexible add/drop policy that allows students to change their enrollment through the second week of classes. By issuing refunds after add/drop is closed, students are assured that the refund is based upon the most up-to-date enrollment. The Financial Aid and Scholarship Office will recalculate each student's financial aid eligibility after the add/drop period is over based on their enrollment at that time. It is at this point the financial aid funds will disburse to the Bursar account for refund processing.

Federal financial aid funds may only be used to cover certain charges associated with tuition, room and board, and books. In order for Title IV funds to be able to pay other charges you must provide your authorization to use any excess funds. Title IV funds can never be used to cover prior year charges or non-education related charges such as parking tickets, fines and/or recreation charges.

This authorization can be given online through MyNIU and is valid until rescinded. View a tutorial of how to provide this authorization. The Title IV Authorization may be rescinded at any time but will require you to contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office.

Exit counseling is designed to inform you of the grace period, interest rates, repayment options and incentives, and terms and conditions of your loans, as well as the availability of deferment, forbearance and consolidation. An important thing to note, students are only offered a grace period once, if you use your grace period and then return to school, repayment will begin immediately after you graduate. Exit counseling for Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized loans can be found at the Federal Student Loans website and for Federal Perkins loans at the Heartland ECSI website.