Bookmark this page! It is your guide to the admission process. The supporting materials needed to complete your application are outlined here, along with important dates and the link to the application fee. Please review the instructions below for how to format and submit your materials, as well as the guidelines for each item.
Application Fee
You should have received a link to pay the $60 fee after submitting your online application. If you have not paid the fee, you can pay here online with a credit or debit card.
- Alternatively, you may mail a check or money order to the NHSI Office. The check should be made payable to Northwestern University, with the applicant’s name in the memo line. Please mail this to the address in our email signature.
- If you are unsure as to whether you paid the application fee, please contact us and we will confirm for you.
Supporting Materials: Scroll down to see guidelines
- Competitive Debate Record
- Letter of Recommendation
- Transcript & Fall Grades
Once we have received all required materials and your app fee, we will send you an email confirmation and forward your completed application to the admission committee. The committee reviews applications on a rolling basis, and typically sends admission decisions within 2 weeks of completion.
The 2026 Institute is fully virtual
Fill out and submit a Competitive Debate Record Form. The form will ask you to list all debate tournaments in which you have participated.
- If you are a novice debater who has yet to compete you are still eligible to apply for the Debate Institute. Please just send us an email letting us know what your goals are for attending the Institute and learning about Policy Style Debate.
Ask your debate coach other relevant educator, if they are willing to write you a letter of recommendation by the deadline. Any request for lab instructor(s) will only be considered in writing from the debate coach and will be granted at the discretion of the Institute Director.
- Get your recommender’s email address.
- You (the student) will submit their contact information to us via this Recommender Form.
- We will email your recommender instructions for writing their letter, which they will then email back to us. Please check in with your recommender about a week after submitting the Recommender Form to make sure they received our instructions in their inbox/spam/junk.
- We must receive at least one letter, but we will accept up to two from different recommenders.
- Letters of recommendation are NOT shared with students and will only be viewed by the Admissions Committee.
Transcripts can be unofficial, but must be current and show your name.
- Ask the appropriate person at your high school, such as a school counselor or principal, to send us (or give you to send) a copy of your most recent transcript. OR…
- If you have access to your transcript in an online portal, you can send us a screenshot or PDF of that transcript. (Make sure your name is included in the screenshot)
- If your transcript does not include your Fall 2025 grades, be sure to submit a progress report as well
- If you are applying as an 8th grade or 9th grade student and do not yet have a high school transcript, please submit a transcript from the 2024-2025 academic year, along with your fall grades for 2025-2026
- Visit this online portal to submit your transcript.
- Click “submit files” and select your transcript and progress report (if applicable)
- Enter you first and last name in the appropriate fields
- Click “upload”