Welcome to the Open Enrollment Information webpage. This is your go-to source for announcements and updates related to your benefits enrollment. We encourage you to bookmark this page and check back periodically for updates.
Open Enrollment for plans starting January 1, 2025 has ended. The next Open Enrollment period for plans starting January 1, 2026, will begin October 27, 2025 and end November 14, 2025. More communications on the enrollment period will be provided in late summer.
Please note, faculty and staff may make changes to benefits outside of Open Enrollment if they experience a qualifying life event, such as marriage or birth. Please see the Benefits Changes website for more information.
Be sure to check out the FAQs section for quick answers to questions. For additional questions not found in the FAQ section, email askHR@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-4700.
We’ll be sharing additional news and updates in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned.
Effective January 1, 2026, the medical plans will be administered by United Healthcare (UHC), the PPO dental plan will be administered by Delta Dental of Illinois (Delta), and the prescription drug plan will be administered by CVS Caremark (CVS).
As the University manages its overall costs, we also must adjust certain terms of our tuition benefits, with no changes to the Dependent Reduced, Dependent Portable or Employee Portable plans for current faculty and staff. Changes to the tuition plans will become effective January 1, 2026.