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Discontinuation

Student Discontinuation for Failure to Register  

In the fifth week of every fall, winter and spring quarter, the Office of the Registrar reviews the records of students in the schools below to identify those who are not registered and discontinues their CAESAR academic program, temporarily discontinuing their student affiliation with Northwestern.  

Discontinuation of unregistered students ensures that Northwestern maintains an accurate list of current students. The process is not intended to be punitive or permanent. 

Communication 

The Office of the Registrar contacts students regarding their potential discontinuation in week four of the term.  The Office contacts students with information about how to return after their record has been discontinued.  

Returning after Discontinuation 

Students whose records are discontinued while they are in good academic standing may return when they are ready to continue their studies, as early as the following quarter.  Visit the Return from Time Away page for more information. 

Implications of Failure to Register 

Only students who are registered in the current term have access to most Northwestern facilities, services and funding, including state and federal funds administered by the University. While discontinuation prevents students from registering very late in a term it is failure to register, not discontinuation itself, that causes students to be ineligible for the following:  

Implication
Explanation

Financial Aid: Northwestern, state, federal loans or grants or Veteran’s Administration education benefits  

Students must be registered to draw federal, state, or Northwestern grants and loans and Federal Work Study Allocations, or to use Veteran’s Administration education benefits.  

 

Financial aid is disbursed 10 days before the term begins on an assumption of enrollment which is later confirmed. Student enrollment is reviewed on an ongoing basis to assess eligibility. Northwestern upholds the federal policy that requires any funding a student receives for which they are no longer eligible to be returned. 

Student Immigration Status  

Students studying on an F-1 or J-1 visa must maintain full time registration status unless they have secured an exemption for under-enrollment. Lack of full-time registration results in a change in immigration status unless the student has secured an exception. 

 

The NU Office of International Student and Scholars (OISS) must report failure to secure full time registration status within 21 days to SEVIS. If this happens at the beginning of the term, students have 30 days from the enrollment deadline to rectify the loss of full time enrollment.  

Campus Housing 

Students who are not registered may not live in any on campus housing facility, including fraternity and sorority housing. 

Student Health Insurance  

The Student Insurance Office is required to cancel coverage for students who are not registered in a degree-seeking program, except in the case of a University-approved leave. Students who are not registered during Fall open enrollment will have their insurance administratively cancelled. Students who opt into insurance in the Fall (and are registered), and pay for that insurance retain coverage for the remainder of the year.  Students who do not register in fall/are not eligible for insurance at that time may opt in during the open enrollment period at the time of their return. 

Graduate Student Appointments 

As a result of past practice, graduate students who fail to register for one quarter will not immediately lose their graduate student appointment unless that lack of registration continues for a second quarter. If, after one quarter of non-enrollment/failure to register, a graduate student remains unregistered for the following quarter they will no longer be eligible for graduate appointments until they become an active student again. 

  

Graduate Assistantship/Fellowship 

As a result of past practice, if a student is discontinued failure to register, their assistantship or fellowship will end at the completion of the term and the student will not be eligible for fellowships or graduate appointments until they become an active student again. 

  

  

  

Graduate Student TA or RA Appointment 

Teaching and research assistants are represented by a union. As the result of past practice, a student’s bargaining unit position as a teaching or research assistant will not be terminated early if a student is discontinued failure to register, but they will not be eligible for other positions until they become an active student again. 

  

  

NetID Inactivation 

The discontinuation process removes the student’s information being sent to the NetID system and starts counting the days from expiration per NUIT’s Expiration Policy.