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Faculty & Staff Educational Assistance

If you are a current Northwestern undergraduate, and your parent is a full-time Northwestern University employee with the required years of service and eligibility for University educational assistance benefits, these benefits may be used toward the cost of your full-time tuition on a study abroad program.

  • Reduced tuition benefit for affiliated & Northwestern-sponsored programs
  • Portable tuition benefit for unaffiliated programs

All Northwestern tuition benefits are renewable for a maximum of 12 quarters / 8 semesters. For eligibility information or other questions about faculty/staff tuition benefits, your parent should contact Northwestern's Human Resources benefits division.

Northwestern & Affiliated Programs:
Dependent Reduced Tuition Benefit

Study abroad students will be billed by Northwestern for the program's tuition. Eligible full-time employees, with a dependent student attending Northwestern, may use the Dependent Reduced Tuition Benefit toward the cost of tuition for an affiliated or Northwestern study abroad program.

The faculty/staff reduced tuition benefit applies only to tuition and does not cover any other study abroad costs, such as room/board, transportation, or the Study Abroad Administrative Fee.

The same discount percentage will be applied to your study abroad program's tuition, up to the cost of Northwestern tuition, and the appropriate discount will automatically be applied to your Northwestern invoice for any quarter(s) of study abroad:

  • If your program's tuition is less than Northwestern tuition, you will receive the same percentage off your program's tuition as you receive off NU tuition each quarter. This means that the actual dollar amount of your discount will be lower.
  • If your program's tuition is higher than Northwestern tuition, you would receive a discount equivalent to your regular NU tuition reduction. Any additional tuition cost beyond the amount of NU tuition is your family's responsibility and is not eligible for the discount.

The dependent reduced tuition benefit is renewable for a maximum of 12 quarters. Each quarter you are abroad will count as 1 quarter of your benefit (i.e., fall program = 1 quarter; winter/spring program = 2 quarters). If you opt to use your reduced tuition benefit toward for a Northwestern-sponsored summer study abroad program, this will count as a quarter of your benefit eligibility. This may mean that you must plan to graduate a quarter early or would be responsible for the full cost of tuition for your final (13th) quarter at Northwestern.

Questions?

If you have any questions about your program's tuition or how your discount will be applied,  contact the Financial Aid Office.

Unaffiliated Programs:
Dependent Portable Tuition Benefit

Students attending unaffiliated academic year or unaffiliated summer programs will be billed directly by the program for tuition and all other program charges. Eligible full-time employees with a dependent student attending Northwestern may use the Dependent Portable Tuition Benefit toward the tuition of an unaffiliated program during the academic year or summer. This applies only to students who attend credit-granting study abroad programs that are operated by another accredited U.S. institution (e.g., Arcadia University, Boston University, Middlebury College, etc.). In most cases, students may not use the portable tuition benefit to enroll directly in a foreign institution.

Students who are approved to attend an unaffiliated academic year or unaffiliated summer program will be billed by Northwestern for the Study Abroad Administrative Fee. The portable tuition benefit cannot be applied to this charge.

The portable tuition benefit is renewable for up to 12 quarters, or 8 semesters. If you attend an eligible unaffiliated program and you opt to use the portable tuition benefit for a program that lasts a semester, this would count as 1.5 quarters of your eligibility. If you opt to use your reduced tuition benefit toward an unaffiliated summer program, this will count as a quarter of your benefit eligibility, which may mean that you must plan to graduate a quarter early or would be responsible for the full cost of tuition for your final (13th) quarter at Northwestern.