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Account Access for Parents and Others


Due to the federal law known as FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, parents and others are not allowed to access a student’s account or financial information unless the student has authorized the school to do so.

This section explains the process where students can:

It also explains how parents and others can:

Students: Authorize others to receive specific account information   
  • Policy: You must give your permission before Northwestern University can share specific information about your student account. For example, Students Accounts staff can tell an authorized individual, “Your student’s exact balance is…” They can tell an unauthorized individual, “Undergraduate tuition this term is…”
  • Process: Put desired individuals in CAESAR’s Financial Info Permission List (CAESAR > For Students > Financial Services > Financial Info Permission).

Students: Authorize others to view and pay a tuition and fees bill   
  • Policy: Parents or others cannot pay a student's tuition and fees invoice online on the student's behalf until the student designates the parent or other individual as an authorized payer.

  • Process:
    • Identify your authorized payers in the “tuition & fees invoice” or “eBill” section of the QuikPAY® system    (CAESAR > For Students > Financial Services > View eBill & ePayment > QuikPAY® > Authorize Payers). Correct posting of tuition & fees invoice payments is driven by logging into the eBill section of QuikPAY®.

    • In QuikPAY®, add each payer to your Authorized Payer list by filling in the Name, Login Name, Password (pick something easy for your payer to remember, but hard for others to guess), and E-mail address fields.

    • Your payer will receive the user ID via e-mail, but you must communicate the password to them. These fields are case-sensitive, so be sure to note any upper- or lowercase details that you use in creating them.

    • If your authorized payer loses or forgets the password you create, return to your Authorized Payer list and press the Reset Password button. QuikPAY® generates a random string of characters as a replacement password and emails it to the Authorized Payer.

Parents and payers: View and pay a tuition and fees bill   
  • Policy: As noted above, before you can access a student’s account your student must set up an authorized payer login name and password for you in QuikPAY®, where you will pay the bill.

  • Process: After your student sets up your account, you will receive the user ID via e-mail. Log into the tuition/authorized section of QuikPAY® and pay the student’s bill.

Students enrolled in 9PAY: Authorize others to make 9PAY installment plan payments   
    • In QuikPAY®, add each payer to your Authorized Payer list by filling in the Name, Login Name, Password (pick something easy for your payer to remember, but hard for others to guess), and E-mail address fields.

    • Your payer will receive the user ID via e-mail, but you must communicate the password to them. These fields are case-sensitive, so be sure to note any upper- or lowercase details that you use in creating them.

    • If your authorized payer loses or forgets the password you create, return to your Authorized Payer list and press the Reset Password button. QuikPAY® generates a random string of characters as a replacement password and emails it to the Authorized Payer.

Parents and payers enrolled in 9PAY: Make 9PAY installment plan payments   
  • Policy: As noted above, before you can access a student’s account your student must set up an authorized payer login name and password for you in QuikPAY®, where you will make 9PAY installment plan payments.

  • Process: After your student sets up your account, you will receive the user ID via e-mail. Log into 9PAY/authorized section of QuikPAY® and make 9PAY installment plan payments.