Receiving your loan

We begin processing loans for the new academic year in May. Applications for federal loans need to be received a minimum of one calendar month before the next disbursement date to ensure the receipt of funds on that date. 

The loan approval process can take up to four weeks during peak processing periods (June to October) or longer if there are difficulties with your application. If you need your application to be processed for a particular deadline, please ensure you apply in plenty of time – we recommend applying at least five weeks before a deadline. It is your responsibility to ensure that a complete loan application is submitted in a timely manner.

The first disbursement of loans will not be paid until students are registered at UWE Bristol. In case of any unforeseen events, please ensure you have personal funds in place to cover your living costs before you receive your first disbursement.

You must make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in order to receive the next disbursement.

Following several cases of fraud in the US, the US Department of Education has decided to make multiple payments or disbursements common practice for all federal loans. This means that you can only receive loan disbursements, in equal amounts, at the beginning of each academic term.

There will be two equal instalments for undergraduate students on the following dates:

• Disbursement 1: 19 October
• Disbursement 2: 30 January

There will be three equal instalments for postgraduate students on the following dates:

• Disbursement 1: 19 October
• Disbursement 2: 30 January
• Disbursement 3: 22 May

The actual amount of each disbursement will be dependent upon the exchange rate used to convert USD($) to GBP(£) on that date. Your loans will also be subject to an origination fee.

The University will deduct your tuition fees for the academic year in equal instalments from each disbursement. 

If you are in university accommodation, the University will deduct your accommodation fees from each disbursement.

Tuition and accommodation deductions will be made in Pounds Sterling. The remaining loan amount will be credited to your bank account in US dollars on each of the above disbursement dates. The University cannot know in advance or guarantee the exchange rate used at the point of each disbursement.

In case the issuing of federal loan funds from the US is delayed for any reason, please ensure you have sufficient funds to tide you over for a couple of weeks at the beginning of each term.

Although it is standard practice to invoice students for all fees at the beginning of the academic year, special dispensation will be made for students who are funding their studies using a US federal loan. Your college will arrange for your fees to be paid in instalments that correlate with your US loan disbursements. 

Once your loan has been approved, we will contact your college to inform them of your loan amounts and disbursement dates.

Once your federal loans have been processed, UWE Bristol will send you an award letter, which will detail your loan amounts and disbursement dates. The wording and format of the letter has been agreed with UK Visas and Immigration as acceptable proof of funding. 

The original award letter (with signature) must be available when you apply for a student visa but not everyone will have to submit the letter with their application.

Please visit GOV.UK to confirm whether you are required to submit your award letter with your student visa application. The University website also gives detailed information about the Tier 4 (General) student visa process.

We cannot complete a 1098T tax form for you because UWE Bristol is not a US taxpayer. However, we can issue a similar certificate which has been accepted by the IRS since 2005. Please email us.loan@uwe.ac.uk to request one.

Increasing your loan

If you wish to increase your US federal loans during the academic year and you have not previously requested the maximum in your Cost of Attendance (CoA), please email us.loan@uwe.ac.uk. You cannot borrow more than the maximum CoA figure.

Decreasing your loan

If you wish to decrease your US federal loans, please email us.loan@uwe.ac.uk. The reduction will be spread across any remaining funds.

Cancelling your loan

If you wish to cancel your loan, please email us at least two weeks before the upcoming disbursement date: us.loan@uwe.ac.uk. 

There is a short period after receipt of your disbursement where you can ask the University to return federal loan funds to the US but you will be responsible for all bank charges and fees if the payment has already been made.

If you wish to cancel your federal loan and the timeframe for doing so through the University has passed, you can still make a payment direct to your lender.

Contact your lender for up-to-date details on cancelling your loan. You can find lender details at NSLDS.

If you cancel your federal loan after receiving a disbursement, you are required to complete Exit Counselling.

If you have any previous loans which need repayment deferment, you will need to advise your lender that you are 'in-school' and request that they send you a deferment form. 

Please complete your details on the form and either send it or drop it in at an Information Point so that it can be certified.

We are not able to sign any deferment forms until after you have started your course. Please provide us with a fax number if you would like it faxed to your lender or an address so that we can forward it on your behalf.

You must email us.loan@uwe.ac.uk if you change the status of your studies as follows:

• suspend
• withdraw
• transfer course
• upgrade/downgrade
• change from full-time to half-time or less than half-time.

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 for more than 180 days 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 any 'unearned' funds to the US Department of Education.

If you are thinking of changing the status of your studies and want to know what your US federal loan entitlement will be, please email us.loan@uwe.ac.uk.