After you apply for a US loan

Your Award Letter is confirmation that you have fully completed the US Federal Loans Application process. 

To have your loans released, you must be fully matriculated on programme. This process involves:

• Accepting the University Regulations
• Confirming attendance with your School
• Completing International Check-In
• Completing Registration 

Step by step guide to matriculation

You must also complete the following in order to receive your loan disbursement on the scheduled date:

• Enter bank details on the Convera Platform
• The loan borrower of the Parent PLUS loan provides consent for surplus funds to be refunded to you (If applicable)

If all the above are not met by 14 days before your disbursement date, your disbursement will be re-scheduled to the next available date.

Your loan payment should be made on or around the disbursement date listed on your Award Letter providing all conditions are met and there is no US Department of Education or Convera system maintenance or failures.

If you are expecting to receive any surplus funds, the timings of this can range from early morning until late afternoon depending on the banking institution. If you have not received any surplus funds within 24 hours of your disbursement date as noted on your Award Letter, please do get in touch

• Direct, Graduate PLUS, or Parent PLUS loans are disbursed in installments and the dates of these installments will depend on your loan period, programme of study and also when you make an application.
• Loan funds which are not required for tuition fees will normally be passed to the student in pounds sterling for living expenses. Please note all Federal Aid will be disbursed directly to the University before any surplus funds are paid to yourself.
• Funds are not retained accommodation purposes if you are staying in University managed accommodation. This is for you to pay directly to your accommodation provider.
• All students with a US Loan (Federal and Private Loan) are required to sign up to a direct deposit service offered through Convera which allows payment directly to a UK or US bank account.

Examples below are based on students whose programme starts or progresses in September.

If students have additional borrowings approved during the loan period the additional funds will also be disbursed in installment based on the installment dates for the original loan.

Each loan disbursement will be applied towards the payment of your tuition fees and you must make arrangements to pay any balance of your fees either in full or following the University’s standard installment payment plan. Further information on the payment of tuition fees and installment plans can be obtained from the Finance Office website.

Undergraduate Veterinary Medicine Students

• 1st year GEP students: funds will be disbursed in August and February
• All other Undergraduate Veterinary Medicine Students: funds will be disbursed in September and February.

Taught Postgraduate Students

• MSc/MCouns- Funds will be disbursed in September, January and May.
• MFA/MLA/MSc TLT/LLB (GEP)/MArch (GEP)- Funds will be disbursed in September and January.
• MSW- Funds will be disbursed in September and February.

Research Postgraduate Students

• Funds will be disbursed in September and March.

A portion of tuition fees will be retained from each disbursement, depending on the number of disbursements. For a student with three loan disbursements, one third of your tuition fees will be retained from each disbursement. For a student with two loan disbursements, one half of your tuition fees will be retained from each disbursement.

Additional programme costs will be retained from the first disbursement and any tuition fee deposits paid in advance will be offset against the fees due from the first disbursement. No funds will be disbursed prior to the commencement of the program of study.

Register how you will pay your tuition fees

You need to confirm your funding or arrange payment of your tuition fees and any additional programme costs when you complete your online student registration. Registration is the first step towards matriculating.

You have to complete the form at the start of every year of your programme. This is the case whether you will pay your fees yourself, or receive funding through a scholarship or loan. 

Register online and confirm your funding 

The University has partnered with Convera to process credit balance payments in a secure and compliant way. Prior to your first disbursement, you (the student), will be invited to submit your bank details via a secure platform so that we can settled your credit balance by EFT / wire transfer. You will receive the emails inviting you to add your details to your student email account.

Students have the option of receiving surplus loan funds in GBP or USD as a wire transfer. We strongly encourage students to open a UK bank account to receive their surplus loan funds. If using some of the popular digital bank accounts, there may be issues with your disbursement. 

Open a UK Bank Account

Guide to International Student bank accounts in the UK (Times Higher Education)

Students who opt to provide their US bank details should be aware that their loan will first be converted into GBP and the surplus funds will need to be converted back to USD at the live interbank rate to settle the funds in a US bank account.

If a student does not enter GBP or USD bank details, a cheque will be issued should there be any surplus funds. We will contact students at this point to confirm next steps. Please note, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure the details provided are correct and up-to-date. 

Loan borrowers of Parent PLUS loans are required to give their parental consent for any surplus funds resulting from the Parent PLUS loan, after the necessary amounts for tuition fees have been retained by the University of Edinburgh, to be passed directly to the student.

Please ask the loan borrower to confirm this by email to us at usloans@ed.ac.uk with the subject line for the email as: "URGENT - Parent PLUS Consent." Please note, the funds cannot be released until this has been provided. 

• If you wish to increase, decrease or cancel your Federal US Loans during the academic year, please submit an Increase / Decrease / Cancellation Request Form.
  • You can only increase your loan if your current borrowing is less than the maximum Cost of Attendance (CoA) stated in your financial aid package.
  • We require at least two weeks' notice before any scheduled disbursement to allow adequate time for any necessary changes to be made.
  • You can do this up to six weeks before the end of the loan period end date of your programme of study.
• If you are looking to cancel your loan please complete your cancellation form by the date provided in your "Right to Cancel" email, before the upcoming release date. There is a short period after receipt of your disbursement where you can ask the University to return Federal loan funds to the US Treasury, however, you will be responsible for all bank charges if the payment has already been disbursed.

Increase/Decrease/Cancellation Request Form

You must email usloans@ed.ac.uk before you request any for the following changes to the status of your studies:

• Take an interruption of studies
• Withdrawal
• Transfer programme
• Leave of Absence
• Upgrade/downgrade i.e. BEng to MEng, MSc to PG Diploma, PhD to MRes/MLitt
• Change from full-time to part-time or less than half-time
• Early submission of your thesis

No funding can be awarded for or during a period of interruption and depending on the length of the interruption, existing loans may go into repayment during the period of interruption. PhD students who submit their thesis and become ‘Interrupted – thesis submitted’ are not eligible to receive loans during this period.

Under US Federal law, the University is required to report any changes to your enrolment within tight timescales. For students who withdraw from their studies, suspend their studies, or complete their studies earlier than expected, it may be necessary to complete a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation and arrange for the return of any 'unearned' funds to the US Department of Education.

US Loan Policies

For purposes of administering Federal financial aid, a student receiving financial aid funds and granted an approved Leave of Absence (LoA) is not considered withdrawn and no Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation is required. However, if a student does not meet the LoA criteria, they are considered withdrawn (for financial aid purposes only), and a Return to Title IV (R2T4) return of funds calculation is required. Further information can be found in the Return to Title IV policy. 

If you are considering changing the status of your studies, please email usloans@ed.ac.uk to understand the implications for your US Federal Loan entitlement.

In accordance with Federal Regulations, the University of Edinburgh must report your enrolment status to the US Department of Education via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) every 60 days. Reporting students as studying full-time or at least half-time at the University of Edinburgh will allow deferred payment status for any previous Federal US Loans taken out before you started your studies with us.

If you do not intend to borrow whilst studying at the University of Edinburgh, but have previous loans, please email your loan deferment documentation to usloans@ed.ac.uk and we can help you to defer these loans. Your loan servicer should be able to provide you with this loan deferment documentation.

Students enrolled on part time courses will usually need to be enrolled at a half time pace or greater to qualify for deferment with most loan servicers. If you are less than half time and are unsure as to whether you are eligible to defer your previous loans, by having your enrolment reported in NSLDS, we would recommend reaching out to your loan servicer for guidance.

In accordance with US Department of Education regulations, you must complete Exit Counselling (opens in new window) before you graduate, drop below half-time attendance, or withdraw/ suspend or complete your studies. This is a condition of your loan terms. The counselling session will help you understand your rights and responsibilities as a student loan borrower and provide useful tips and information to help you manage your loans.

You'll need your PIN - the same one you used for your FAFSA and it will take you approximately 30 minutes.

Please notify the US Financial Aid Office (usloans@ed.ac.uk) that you have completed the counselling so we can close your file. We can then obtain a report that shows that you have met the US Department of Education's requirements.

You will be assigned a loan servicer by the US Department of Education who will get in touch with you directly.

To find out what repayment plan options are available, when you must begin making payments and how to do so, please refer to the Federal Student Aid website.