A co-op student's financial aid package is developed in much the same way as it would be for a student remaining on campus. Need is determined by subtracting the family's expected contribution from the total cost of attendance. Need is met through scholarship, grant, loan and student employment. (See Components of an Aid Package for more information on how an aid package is developed.)

The difference occurs when the co-op experience takes place during the academic year and financial aid is adjusted for the quarter(s) of enrollment reflecting a tuition charge. Even though the student is officially enrolled with zero units while on co-op, there are no tuition charges; therefore, financial aid for that quarter is cancelled and all loan funds returned to the lender.

Students participating in the co-op program are also expected to contribute a portion of their co-op earnings towards their educational expenses. The normal summer savings expectation is waived and replaced by a portion of the co-op expectation. The academic year employment is also awarded in the form of the co-op expectation.

The co-op earnings expectation is determined annually by subtracting prior co-op participants' average living expenses for two quarters from their average earnings. The average co-op earnings contribution for 2007-08 is $3,100.

No. Over the 12 quarters of your enrollment, you will receive the same amount of total NU scholarship aid as you would if you had not chosen to participate in the co-op program, assuming there are no major changes in your family's financial circumstances.

It depends entirely on the agency that awarded you the scholarship. If you have questions about the effect of co-op on your outside scholarship, you should speak directly with the association that administers the scholarship, as they are responsible for determining eligibility. If you are a need-based aid recipient and your outside scholarship funding were to be reduced, we would normally replace it with another form of financial assistance.

While we are unable to guarantee that student loan indebtedness will not increase as a result of the co-op experience, in general there is no significant change in loan amounts. However, if there are any changes to the financial aid award due to unusually high transportation costs or lower than anticipated earnings, the adjustment to the student's award will be in loan aid and not in scholarship.

The Co-op Remission Grant is designed to offset the increased tuition charges a co-op student will incur during his/her fourth and fifth years of enrollment at Northwestern. Since students participating in the co-op program are enrolled for 12 quarters spread over a 5-year period and tuition increases each year, some students might choose not to take advantage of co-op because they would pay a higher tuition charge for three of these quarters than the students who choose not to participate and graduate after four years. So in order that the higher tuition not be seen as a deterrent, a Co-op Remission Grant is awarded. The Co-op Office establishes the guidelines for awarding and then sends a recipient list to the Office of Financial Aid. This is typically done at the beginning of each quarter.

The Co-op Remission Grant reduces Northwestern Scholarship assistance dollar for dollar. Some students do not understand why this is the case. It is important to understand that that the Co-op Remission Grant is not intended to be additional assistance. The purpose of the Co-op Remission Grant is to offset the difference between actual tuition charges and what the student would have been charged for the term if he/she had not taken time off to participate in the co-op program. If the student had been charged the lower tuition amount in the first place, then the cost of attendance figure used to determine financial aid eligibility would also be lower, resulting in less need and therefore less scholarship assistance. Unfortunately it is not possible to simply charge the lower tuition, so instead the student is given the Co-op Remission Grant as a sort of rebate for tuition paid. If the student is not a financial aid recipient and the tuition was paid out of pocket, the grant becomes a tangible refund to the family. But if the student is a financial aid recipent and the tuition was paid with financial aid funds, the Co-op Remission Grant is used to pay back the financial aid funds and therefore reduces any Northwestern Scholarship Assistance received.

Still have questions?

Try browsing these other categories of Frequently Asked Questions:

If you don't find the answer to your question or would like to discuss your concerns with a counselor, please contact us by phone at (847) 491-7400 or e-mail us at ug-finaid@northwestern.edu.