Overview of US Federal Student Financial Assistance

For the purposes of U.S. financial aid, the University is classified as a ‘foreign school’. This designation means that there are slightly different rules and areas of eligibility than you may be used to if you’ve taken out Federal Aid before.

Most programs of study at the University - including Bachelors, Masters and PhD programs - do qualify for funding, but there are exceptions.

Check our US Federal Aid Eligibility webpage for more information on exceptions.

If your program includes an element of study outside of or away from the University you may not be eligible to receive government funds. In particular students who decide to return to the US for personal reasons and complete their studies from there become ineligible for government funds. Work-based placements in the US and periods of independent research in the US are also ineligible for government funds, with one particular exception for PhD students.

Check our Study Abroad section carefully for full details.

Find out more on study abroad

You will need to look at your financial plan carefully. There are private, non-governmental loans that could fund these programs.

See below for more information on Private Loan options.

Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans are available to eligible students, on eligible programs, who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Financial Assistance (FAFSA) on the Web. This Federal Student Financial Assistance is made available through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program to help pay for educational expenses and does not require credit approval.

Scholarships and Student Funding Services awards a Direct Subsidized or Direct Unsubsidized Loan, or a combination of both loans, based on your financial need and grade level (note Subsidized loans are no longer available to graduate borrowers).

The information you report on your FAFSA is used to determine your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is a calculated formula that allows the University to determine your financial need. To determine your financial need, your EFC is subtracted from your cost of attendance (COA) (see below, and Cost of Attendance section for more information).

PLUS loans are also available to parents of undergraduate dependent students and to graduate students, providing they meet the credit check requirements.

Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans are available to eligible students, on eligible programs, who complete the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application form. This Federal Student Financial Assistance is made available through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program to help pay for educational expenses and does not require credit approval.

Scholarships and Student Funding Services awards a Direct Subsidized or Direct Unsubsidized Loan, or a combination of both loans, based on your financial need and grade level (note Subsidized loans are no longer available to graduate borrowers).

The information you report on your FAFSA is used to determine your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is a calculated formula that allows the University to determine your financial need. To determine your financial need, your EFC is subtracted from your cost of attendance (COA) (see below, and Cost of Attendance section for more information).

PLUS loans are also available to parents of undergraduate dependent students and to graduate students, providing they meet the credit check requirements.

Each academic year, the FSA Funding team establishes standard student budgets that use cost of attendance (CoA) estimates for awarding financial aid funds. Your personalised CoA is provided to you in an Excel spreadsheet once you have submitted your FAFSA.

The budgets reflect typical student expenses and consist of two basic components:

• Direct educational costs - tuition, fees, books and supplies
• Indirect (maintenance) costs - accommodation, travel, miscellaneous personal expenses
• The total amount is then increased to allow for origination fees and is rounded up to the next $1000

While your costs may vary depending on where you stay in Scotland we expect your cost of attendance to be roughly in line with our estimates. If you believe that the costs relating to your education are significantly higher than those we have estimated must discuss this with the FSA Funding team. Only reasonable costs essential to your studies will be considered.

Students may request additional educational expenses that are not already included in their CoA at any time up to four weeks prior to the end of their loan period, subject to approval by the UWS FSA funding team (proof of costs may be required).

If students borrow less than the maximum amount initially they may increase their borrowings up to the maximum amount, up to four weeks prior to the end of their loan period.

Notes

• The CoA uses a theoretical exchange rate, reviewed annually, to convert UK costs into US dollar borrowing amounts.
• The value of funds received will vary according to the exchange rate at the time of each disbursement.
• Students are advised to monitor their pounds sterling educational expenses relative to the pounds sterling amounts included in the CoA.
• If students receive extra funds due to a favourable exchange rate they are expected to utilise these funds for additional educational costs rather than requesting an increase in their borrowing amounts.
• It is also recommended that if students receive additional funds due to exchange rate levels they consider reducing the amount of disbursements which have not yet been disbursed in order to reduce their total debt.

A Federal Direct Subsidided Loan is awarded on the basis of financial need to undergraduate borrowers only, subject to annual and aggregate limits. If you are a first-time borrower on or after July 1, 2013, there is a limit on the maximum period of time (measured in academic years) that you can receive Direct Subsidized Loans.

Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are sometimes referred to as Stafford Loans.

A Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan is awarded regardless of need to undergraduate and postgraduate students providing annual and aggregate limits have not already been reached.

Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are sometimes referred to as Stafford Loans.

A Federal Direct Subsidided Loan is awarded on the basis of financial need to undergraduate borrowers only, subject to annual and aggregate limits. If you are a first-time borrower on or after July 1, 2013, there is a limit on the maximum period of time (measured in academic years) that you can receive Direct Subsidized Loans.

Parents of dependent undergraduate students can borrow a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan to help pay for educational expenses at UWS.

Parents can borrow up to the total estimated CoA minus all other sources of financial aid their student receives. PLUS loans are the financial responsibility of the parents and not the student. A Parent PLUS loan borrower must meet the same citizenship and residency requirements as the student. The parent must not owe a refund on a Federal student financial aid grant or be in default on a Federal student loan.

A credit check is conducted when your parent begins the loan application process or when the loan is originated. Undergraduates whose parents do not qualify for a PLUS loan can borrow additional Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan funds.

The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is a Federal loan that graduate students with good credit histories may borrow to help pay their educational expenses.

A graduate student may borrow up to the total COA less all other financial aid received by the student. They also must have applied for their annual loan maximum eligibility under the Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan Program before applying for a Graduate/Professional PLUS loan.

Interest rates for all Federal loan types are set annually by the US Department of Education. 

FAFSA Interest Rates & Fees

Information on origination fees for all Federal loan types

NB: The University’s CoAs take origination fees into account so that maximum net borrowings are sufficient to cover educational costs.

Information on repayment of loans is available from:

Subsidised & Unsubsidised Loan Replayments

Direct PLUS Loan Repayments

A comparison of Federal and Private loans:

Comparison of Federal and Private loans

The amount in Direct Loan funds that you are eligible to borrow each academic year is limited by your grade level; whether you are a dependent or an independent student; your financial need; and your cost of attendance. You cannot borrow more than your financial need or the cost of attendance.

There are also aggregate loan limits which limit overall borrowings for certain loan types.

Find out more on annual and aggregate loan limits

A private alternative loan is a non-Federal education loan, through a private lender, typically in the student’s name and requiring a co-signer. Approval and interest rates are based on the creditworthiness of the borrower and co-signer. Each alternative lender has different eligibility requirements, loan rates, terms, and conditions.

Students who are eligible for Federal Student Financial Assistance should complete the FAFSA and exhaust all Federal loans and scholarship opportunities, before applying for a private alternative loan. Federal student loans generally have more favourable terms and conditions than private loans. We recommend that you utilise all Federal loan eligibility before turning to private loans.

The University is willing to work with any lender who offers alternative educational loans to students enrolled at Foreign Institutions. Currently, we are aware of only one such lender, Sallie Mae, but students are advised to explore all options available to them and can opt to use any lender.

More information about loan programs for undergraduates, graduates and parents (or other credit-worthy adults) can be found here:

Sallie Mae Student Loans

Global Education Management Services - Study Loans

UWS is approved to process Veterans Affairs Benefits for eligible students on eligible programs of study (Distance Learning programs at foreign schools are excluded).

For information on how to request programme approval and enrolment certification for VA Benefit purposes please check our US Veterans Affairs Benefits webpage contact fsa-funding@uws.ac.uk.

See also Americorp National Service Awards & Other Federal Aid sections (below).

As a Title IV institution the University of the West of Scotland is able to approve Americorps National Service Awards.

For further assistance please contact fsa-funding@uws.ac.uk.

There are additional types of US Federal Aid however, as you are receiving your degree from a foreign institution, you cannot access funds from those programmes (such as Pell Grants, SEOG Grants, Perkins Loans, etc.) even if you would otherwise be eligible.

Students funding their studies by US Federal Loans will automatically have their enrolment details reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) every two months but if a student not currently in receipt of US Federal Loans wishes to be reported to NSLDS for loan deferment purposes they should email fsa-funding@uws.ac.uk to request this.

Any student requiring a paper loan deferment form to be completed for a loan servicer not linked to NSLDS should hand the form to a member of staff in the UWS Student Hub or email the form to the FSA Funding Team (fsa-funding@uws.ac.uk).