Students are advised to consider a Direct Loan before approaching private lenders; due to the competitive interest rates the loan program offers.

The lender for the Direct Loan program is the US Department of Education and offers the following types of loans.

Direct Subsidised Loans (Undergraduates only)

This type of Direct Stafford Loan is available to undergraduate students only, and the amount awarded is based on financial need.

The US Department of Education pays the interest on this type of loan throughout the duration of the course whilst you are studying at least half-time; and for the first six months after you leave school (also known as the ‘grace period’).

Annual and Aggregate limits apply

Direct Unsubsidised Loans

This type of Direct Stafford Loan is available to both undergraduate and postgraduate students and is not based on financial need.

The interest on this type of loan is the responsibility of the borrower (the student) from the time the first amount is disbursed.

Annual and Aggregate limits apply

Direct PLUS Loans

Direct PLUS Loans are available to independent graduate/professional students OR parents of dependent students who are studying at least half-time, and must not have an adverse credit history.

This loan is not available to dependent undergraduate students and all general eligibility requirements must also be met to be awarded this loan.

There are no aggregate limits to this type of loan; however you may only borrow up to the Cost of Attendance (COA).

At the University of Wolverhampton all Federal and Private US loans are handled by the Global Opportunities Office.

The Global Opportunities Office. can be contacted at U.S.Loans@wlv.ac.uk

Cost of Attendance

Students may borrow up to the Cost of Attendance, which is set by the school and includes allowances to cover the following costs:

• Tuition fees
• University accommodation OR an allowance to cover rental costs
• Books and Supplies
• Travel
• Other Personal Living Expenses
• Visa fees and Healthcare
• Associated Federal Direct Loan fees and charges for subsidized/unsubsidized and PLUS loan

 How your Living Expenses are calculated

The following table demonstrates how we calculate the basis of your Cost of Attendance:

The Living Expenses information is provided on the basis of the living costs within the area at the time of origination.  When calculating your Cost of Attendance, you will determine the amount that you want to borrow, however this cannot exceed the total amounts determined by the school.

When calculating your Cost of Attendance, please be aware that based on the Student Route visa requirements, you will need to show £1015 per month for the duration of your course.

Once the living expenses that you require have been calculated and your tuition fees have been confirmed, this will provide you with the overall Cost of Attendance for the academic year.

Download a copy of the Cost of Attendance here and please send the completed COA along with your other required documents to U.S.Loans@wlv.ac.uk

For more information, please see How to Apply

Useful Links

The US Department for Education offers advice and tips on budgeting to assist you during your study.

Budgeting

Budgeting Tips

Creating your Budget

To be eligible to receive a Direct Loan, you have to ensure you have completed ALL of the required documentation, and be enrolled on an eligible course for at least half time.  To be eligible to receive a US loan, you need to:

• Be a US citizen or national with a valid SSN number
• Be registered with Selective Service if you are male
• Not be in default with any other federal student loan program
• Only use federal student aid for educational purposes
• Have a High School Diploma or Equivalent
• For new students – have received an unconditional offer from the University of Wolverhampton for an eligible degree or course
• For current students - be enrolled at least half-time on an eligible degree or course

 Eligible and Ineligible Courses

Courses that are eligible for the Direct Federal Loan Programme are:

• Associate’s Degree
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Master’s Degree or Doctor’s Degree
• Two-Year Transfer

Unfortunately the University of Wolverhampton does not offer Direct Federal Loans to individuals studying any of the following:

• Non-Degree Programs
• Medical and Nursing Courses
• Mature Students under the mature student provision
• ‘Study Abroad’ or ‘Student Exchange’ within the U.S
• Internships/Externships

Staying Eligible

The University of Wolverhampton is required by the US Department of Education regulations to ensure that all students receiving Federal Aid (subsidised, unsubsidised and PLUS) are making satisfactory academic progress. If you fail to meet SAP you will become ineligible for US Direct Loans. For further information please see our SAP Policy (Word doc 96k)

Withdrawals & Leave of Absence (R2T4)

Students who are receiving Federal Direct Loans are advised to contact U.S.Loans@wlv.ac.uk prior to withdrawing or taking a Leave of Absence.

• If you withdraw before the start of your course, no fee is charged.
• If you withdraw during the academic year your fees will be recalculated and any refund or requirement to pay further fees by you will be communicated via email.
• Some of the loan money paid to the student has to be immediately repaid to the University of Wolverhampton to accompany the withdrawal notice to the US Department of Education.

Failure to immediately repay this money is a federal offence.  Please read the University of Wolverhampton’s R2T4 (Word doc 52k) (PDF 212K, Downloads file) for further information.

Exit Counselling

US regulations require all students who withdraw, graduate or drop below half-time attendance to complete exit counselling.

1. You must complete NSLDS Exit Counselling.  This is done via NSLDS as per Entrance Counselling.
2. You must send confirmation that you have successfully completed the counselling by emailing the scanned PDF of the final ‘congratulations’ page to U.S.Loans@wlv.ac.uk.

Deferment

Providing you meet all of the eligibility criteria, you are entitled to a deferment period in which you can temporarily delay repayments and interest on your loan.

For more information regarding your deferment options, please visit Studentaid.ed.gov

Repaying Your Loan

Repaying your loan will not commence until you have either graduated, dropped below half-time enrolment, or no longer meet any of the loan eligibility requirements.

For Direct subsidised /unsubsidised loans, you are entitled to a ‘grace period’ which means that you do not have to start repayments on your loan for a set period, allowing you to decide on a payment plan that suits you.

For information on how you repay your loans and to view what options are available to you, please visit Studentaid.ed.gov

FAFSA applications 

When to Apply

Applications for Direct Loans will be processed by the school from 1st July prior to the start of the academic year; however you can start the application process now. 

Please be aware that we will not be able to process your loan until you have received and accepted an unconditional offer for an eligible course from the University.

If you currently have a conditional offer, you are still able to start your FAFSA application process and submit the documents to u.s.loans@wlv.ac.uk.

For further information regarding applying to the University, please visit our How to Apply pages.

How to Apply

For your FAFSA application, please use school code:  G30851

Please note, completing a FAFSA does not confirm your eligibility for a US Loan, and states that you may only be considered for a loan by the school in which you are attending.

To complete the FAFSA application process, there are several documents that we will require from you in order to confirm your eligibility for a loan.

If any of the documents that we require are missing, we will not be able to begin processing your loan.

Next steps

A notification email will be sent to you confirming that we have received your documents.

Providing all documentation has been provided, we will process your application from 1st July prior to the start of your course date.

Upon completion of processing your documents and matching them to US Department of Education systems, we will send you a signed and stamped ‘Notification of Student Loan’ letter. This will confirm your loans, which you will require for your UK visa application. Only this original signed letter from the University on header paper is acceptable to the UK Border Agency.

Apply for your Visa

You will require the ‘Notification of Student Loan’ letter to apply for your Visa.

For further assistance with your Visa, please visit Visa and Immigration

All Federal Loans originated by the University of Wolverhampton will be disbursed in three equal instalments.

The actual GBP you will receive will vary as it is dependent on the exchange rate at the time of disbursement.

The expected disbursement dates are:

1. October
2. January
3. April

Please note that these dates are subject to change. Any changes will be advertised to students on this page.

All disbursements are subject to the following conditions:

• You are making satisfactory academic progress
• You are enrolled at least half-time
• You are not in the USA
• You have not violated any federal compliance regulations (repayment, default, fraud, drugs)
• You will be advised by email that a disbursement is due and its value and how much is due to be deducted from it. When you receive this email you may contact us to reduce or cancel the disbursement
• If you don’t warn us in advance not to draw down  your disbursement, then you will be responsible for all interest charges and for its repayment

Please ensure that you have sufficient funds to cover two weeks of maintenance costs should your loan be delayed for any reason.

Banking your cheque & opening a bank account

To receive your loan, please ensure you open a bank account as soon as you have enrolled onto your course.  To do this, you will be required to provide evidence that you are an enrolled student in the UK and have a UK address.  You will need to request a ‘bank letter’ from the ‘Official Letters’ section on your e:Vision account and collect it from your Student Centre.

How much money will you get?

You will only get one third of your loans per term, this is a US Department of Education regulation and there are deductions taken from that value.

The US Government will deduct an origination fee from your loan before we disburse any amounts to you.  The origination fee rates vary for Subsidised/Unsubsidised loans and PLUS loans.

The loan is transferred to the UK and converted to GBP. The University is not allowed to charge any fee or receive any commission for processing your loan. So, the money received by you is exactly what the University receives from the US Government in GBP.

The University will deduct one third of your tuition fee and one third of your Halls of Residence fee from each disbursement, as applicable at the time.

The remaining balance will then be transferred to you to fund your living costs whilst you are studying at the University.

If the value of your disbursement does not cover all of your accommodation tuition fees, you will not receive an additional payment for your living costs.  If you have only applied for subsidised or unsubsidised loans, it is unlikely that you will receive a living costs payment, but will have to pay the shortfall in tuition fee and Halls of Residence fee yourself.

Repayment options if you require a private student loan https://lendedu.com/blog/private-student-loan-help/