9PAY FAQs
Initial setup and confirmation
Will I receive an invoice from 9PAY as a reminder when a payment is due?
You will not receive an invoice for 9PAY. The 9PAY email confirmation you received (when you submitted your 9PAY application) provides your payment schedule based on the budgeted amount you requested. 9PAY payments are due on the 1st of each month starting in July.
How do I make my 9PAY payments?
See Billing & Payment, How to Pay for information.
What happens to the $50 Application fee if I decide to cancel?
The application fee is non-refundable; you will still be charged the application fee if you cancel.
How can I apply for 9PAY?
The 9Pay application is no longer available.Starting with the 2022-23 academic year, please use the new Prepayment Plan.
Budget and payments
Do I include work study in my 9PAY budget?
No, work study funds will be paid directly to the student and should not be included in your 9PAY budgeted amount.
How do I know if my 9PAY budget is accurate?
After August 10, log into CAESAR (using your guest or student access) and go to View My Account (Real-time, Daily Activity) to see the quarterly tuition/fees and the expected 9PAY credit. The Grand Total line at the top of the page will indicate whether there is a shortfall (positive balance) or a surplus (negative balance).
How can I make changes to my 9PAY budget?
All 9PAY budget changes will need to be made in writing to studentaccounts-ev@northwestern.edu. Please include the student's name and ID (not SSN).
How can I confirm my 9PAY payments are received by Northwestern?
Log into CAESAR (using your guest or student access) and go to View My Account (Real-time, Daily Activity), and click on “View 9PAY activity” in the upper left corner to see all 9PAY payments and related activity.
Is there a way to identify who made what payments?
A student may have more than one guest submitting 9PAY payments. Because payment identification information is maintained separately according to the guest or student payment profile, only the student can access all sources of payments posted on their behalf.
Term posting and tuition & fees invoice
When will the 9PAY payments be applied to the charges on my tuition and fees account?
9PAY payments are applied to the undergraduate student accounts as follows:
- July 1, August 1, and September 1 payments » fall quarter
- October 1, November 1, and December 1 payments » winter quarter
- January 1, February 1, and March 1 payments » spring quarter
At the start of each quarter, an expected 9PAY credit will be applied to your tuition and fees account. By the end of each quarter, the credit will be adjusted to reflect the actual 9PAY payments received for that term.
Many of our graduate and professional program term allocation schedules vary based on the program’s term calendar. However, all payment due dates are the same.
An “Expected 9PAY Funds” amount is posted on the tuition and fees invoice. What does it mean?
Based on the 9PAY budgeted amount you submitted, this posting represents the calculated allocation for this specific term only. Each term a similar entry will be posted. The sum of your Expected 9PAY Funds postings for all terms should match your annual budgeted amount for this academic year if all of your monthly payments are submitted accordingly.
I’m on the 9PAY pre-payment plan. Why do I have a balance on my tuition account?
Once all of the term transactions are posted to the tuition and fees invoice for each term, the invoice may reflect a balance due or a credit balance. The initial budgeted amount on the 9PAY application is normally calculated using the best available information at the time of submission. If the 9PAY monthly payments are submitted according to schedule, the tuition and fees invoice will reflect the overall net impact on the student‘s account. If the invoice has an “Adjusted Balance Due” an additional payment is required.
Why is there a “9PAY Plan Adjustment” on my student account / tuition and fees invoice?
A “9PAY Plan Adjustment” may be posted to your student account due to a change in the budgeted amount for the term or academic year. Also, periodic audits are performed on the entire 9PAY installment plan account. If your scheduled monthly payments have not been paid to satisfy the “Expected 9PAY Funds” term posting, your 9PAY account has a shortage of funds received and an adjustment is required.
Why is there a “Transfer Payment to 9PAY” on my student account / tuition and fees invoice?
A “Transfer Payment to 9PAY Plan” entry is normally posted to correct a payment posting error or transfer a credit balance from your student account to satisfy all or a portion of a monthly 9PAY installment payment.
What happens if my payment is late or I fail to make my 9PAY payments?
If a scheduled monthly 9PAY installment plan payment is late, your 9PAY account is subject to a $10.00 per month late payment fee. If two or more installment plan payments are not paid, Student Finance reserves the right to cancel your 9PAY participation for non-payment. All standard University policies and procedures would apply.