Federal Loan Programs
for American applicants

UWL can administer Federal Direct Student Loans, Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans and Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans. Please note that UWL is unable to participate in many of the need-based programs, such as Pell Grants, SEOG Grants and Perkins Loans or the Federal Work Study Program as these are not applicable at a foreign school. 

You may be eligible for the following loans:

Federal Direct Student Loans

Federal Direct Student Loans are Subsidized and Unsubsidized, low-interest student loans that are provided directly to the student. Federal Direct Subsidized Loans are based on financial need; Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans are not based on financial need.

Please note that postgraduate students are only able to receive Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans.

Federal Direct Parent PLUS loans

These are a low-interest loans for parent borrowers to assist their dependent students throughout their studies. This loan is not based on financial need but on credit-worthiness. The parent borrower must also be a US Citizen, US Permanent Resident or Eligible Non-Citizen.

Please note that Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans can only be administered to students classified as Dependent Students. If the student borrower is considered an Independent Student, they are ineligible to receive parental support from a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan. However, these students may apply for a private loan - please see below.

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans

The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan provides postgraduate and professional students with additional funds for their education as these students are ineligible for Federal Direct Subsidized Loans.

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans are not based on financial need, but on credit-worthiness.

Private loans

If you are applying for a private US student loan, the University will work with whichever private lender you choose to use, provided they are willing to work with UWL’s Financial Aid and Finance Teams.

Please note: the Financial Aid Team has identified only one lender currently offering private student loans to students at foreign schools. This lender Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae is not a preferred lender and this does not represent a preferred lender arrangement.

The only private loan currently available to students at foreign schools offered by Sallie Mae is the Smart Loan from Sallie Mae.

Prospective and current students are advised to review the Federal Aid Direct Lending programme before they progress with a private loan as this may be a more favourable option.

To be eligible for the Federal Direct Loans program you must:

• Be a US Citizen, US Permanent Resident or an Eligible Non-Citizen
• A citizen of the Freely Associated States: the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands. These students can only receive aid from some of the financial aid programs
• Have a valid US social security number
• Be accepted as a full-time student, or a part-time student completing a course at 50% or more of the full-time equivalent
• Have made satisfactory academic progress
• Be living outside the US during the course of studies, be enrolled with the University of West London and not undertaking any studies within the United States of America
• Have not borrowed over the federal loan limits or be still in default on repaying previous loans
• Have signed up for selective service or have been officially exempted from selective service if the student is male and aged 18 or older
• Not have any outstanding convictions for drug-related offences
• Be registered for an eligible course. Ineligible courses include (but may not be restricted to) those listed below:
  • Undergraduate degree courses that include a 'year abroad' option to institutions that are not Title IV Eligible
  • Standalone Foundation Degrees, Diplomas, or pre-Masters courses
  • Nursing courses
  • Apprenticeship programmes
  • Any programme that has a compulsory online element or distance learning element. Such programmes are ineligible for any US Federal Loan funds (US Higher Education Reconciliation Act (HERA), July 1, 2006).

A full list of eligibility criteria can be found on the Federal Student Aid website.

The amount you can borrow through Direct Loans is determined by the estimated cost of attendance (COA) established by UWL’s Financial Aid Team and the borrowing limits set by the US Department of Education.

Cost of Attendance (COA) is an estimation of how much it will cost to study at UWL for one academic year. The cost of attendance (COA) is the estimated total amount it will cost to go to university each year. The COA includes tuition and fees; on-campus room and board (or a housing and food allowance for off-campus students); and allowances for books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, and, if applicable, dependent care. It can also include other expenses like an allowance for the rental or purchase of a personal computer, costs related to a disability, or costs for eligible study-abroad programs. 

Note: The COA for postgraduate and professional programs is usually higher than for undergraduate programs.

If you are studying less than half-time, the COA includes tuition and fees and an allowance for books, supplies, transportation and dependent care expenses; but can also include room and board for up to three semesters or the equivalent at the institution, but no more than two of those semesters or the equivalent may be consecutive. Students with any unusual expenses that might affect their cost of attendance should contact UWL’s Financial Aid Team with evidence to support this increase. Please be aware, however, that the UWL Financial Aid Team cannot arbitrarily increase a student’s cost of attendance and that the US Government dictates specific criteria to increase a student’s provided cost of attendance. The maximum loans a student can receive may not exceed the yearly cost of attendance.

To calculate this, UWL combines the cost of all tuition fees and living expenses, and subtracts this total from any scholarships you may receive and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). A set average exchange rate for the academic year is used to convert these costs into US dollars.

You may borrow up to the cost of attendance through a combination of Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Federal Direct Parent or Graduate PLUS Loans. There are limits on the amount students can borrow through Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans; the amounts students are eligible to take in Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans varies dependent upon your EFC, academic year and dependency status. 

For more information about the limits to the amounts that students can borrow through Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, please consult the StudentAid.gov website.

The US Department of Education website has important resources available to all American students considering higher education.