How to apply

You should only start the process once you have had an offer from UWE Bristol. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit a complete loan application in good time to meet any deadlines.

You can apply for a loan during the academic year but you must give sufficient time for the application and disbursement process to take place before the end of your academic year. You must also meet the US Department of Education's deadline to submit your FAFSA of June 30 2025.  

You must apply for your US loan each year. Each year’s loan is based on the current academic year and we cannot retrospectively approve funds.

We will only be assessing applications for the 2024/2025 academic year from May 2024.

You must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine your eligibility for federal loans.

If you have not yet been allocated a place at UWE Bristol, please do not complete your FAFSA.

If you are a returning student, complete a renewal FAFSA. You will only need to indicate any information that has changed since last year.

Please ensure you use the correct school code for UWE Bristol on your FAFSA: G21948. 

Completing your FAFSA will produce a FAFSA Submission Summary, which the University will use to determine your loan eligibility.

Once you have submitted your FAFSA, please ensure that you complete any necessary paperwork as outlined here. Complete all paperwork on Studentaid.gov and use the UWE Bristol school code G21948.

Entrance counselling

If you are a first-time borrower of Federal Aid, you must complete entrance counselling. 

If you have completed entrance counselling in a previous year of study for a specific loan type at any institution, you do not need to complete this step.

Please email us at us.loan@uwe.ac.uk with a screenshot of your completed entrance counselling.

Master Promissory Note (MPN)

Undergraduates

Complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) for the Subsidised and Unsubsidised loans. If applicable, your parent should complete a separate MPN for the Parent PLUS loan.

Graduates

Complete an MPN for the Unsubsidised loan. If you intend to take out a Grad PLUS loan then please complete an additional MPN for this.

As we are a foreign school, new MPNs must be completed for each year of study.

Once approved by the system we will be able to view MPNs, so you do not need to send us copies.

PLUS Loan Request (if applicable)

If you or your parent intends to apply for a Grad or Parent PLUS loan, either you or your parent will need to complete a PLUS loan request.

The US Department of Education may also request some applicants to complete an online PLUS loan counselling module.

Your request will automatically trigger a credit check. You do not need to send us a copy of your credit check as we will be able to view this once it has been approved on the system.

We are not automatically notified when you have completed steps 1 and 2. Please email us to inform us yourself at us.loan@uwe.ac.uk.

Once you notify us and we have seen the above paperwork, we will email you a Cost of Attendance (CoA) form to inform you of the amount and types of loans you can borrow.

The CoA is an estimate of your education-related costs for the academic year. It will specify the total amount you may borrow through Federal Aid, minus any other aid you may be receiving for that academic year, such as bursaries or scholarships.

US regulations specify that any loans you take plus any additional financial aid (awards, bursaries, scholarships etc.) must not exceed the yearly Cost of Attendance.

If you receive scholarship or bursary funding from the University or another source, you must tell us so that this can be factored into your Cost of Attendance. Failure to do so will result in a recalculation and reduction of your loan later in the academic year when it is discovered you are in receipt of additional sources of funding.

These educational costs relate only to you, the student. These costs cannot include costs for partners or children – other than childcare or nursery costs.

The exchange rate is listed on the Cost of Attendance. The actual amount that you will receive in GBP(£) will depend upon the exchange rate available to UWE Bristol’s bank or currency exchange service provider on the date that the loan funds are disbursed.

Your CoA will include travel costs however, we are unable to issue loan payments before the beginning of the academic year, so you should not rely on your first payment to finance your travel.

The first disbursement date will be in October 2024.

Please note: the Cost of Attendance is an estimate of your maximum costs; actual expenditure may vary.

If you have any further questions regarding your Cost of Attendance, please contact us at us.loan@uwe.ac.uk.

Once you have approved your Cost of Attendance (CoA), you will be sent an Award Letter, Draft Letter and your Final Loan Letter.

These letters will outline the amount you will receive, your disbursement dates, and the period/academic year that your loan relates to.

The letters will be sent one at a time. You will need to approve each letter before we are able to send you the next letter.

The wording and format of this letter has been agreed with UK Visas and Immigration as acceptable proof of funding for your visa applications.

Once all three letters have been signed and sent back to the US Loans team, we will be able to originate your loan.

We will begin to originate loans on the US system from July 2024.