Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
types of loan and how to apply
There are a few different options available when it comes to funding, so we have broken down what you can apply for and how to apply.
On this page you will find information on the types of loan available, how much money you can get and information on how to apply. You can check if you meet the requirements to apply on our Eligibility page.
What loans are available?
The US Loans programme offers the following loans to students studying at a ‘foreign School’:
- Stafford Loans (Subsidised and Unsubsidised)
- Graduate Plus Loans
- Parent Plus Loans
Please note Pell Grants and Perkins Loans are not available to students studying outside of the US.
The University also administers Private Loans. More information can be found on the US Department of Education official student aid website.
How much loan can I receive?
Please see the tables below to illustrate the amount and type of Federal Loan that can be taken out.
| Year of course | Subsidised loan | Unsubsidised loan | Maximum loan |
| 1 | $3,500 | $2,000 | $5,500 |
| 2 | $4,500 | $2,000 | $6,500 |
| 3 and later | $5,500 | $2,000 | $7,500 |
| Subsidized and Unsubsidized Aggregate Loans | $31,000 - No more than $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Year of course | Subsidised loan | Unsubsidised loan | Maximum loan |
| 1 | $3,500 | $6,000 | $9,500 |
| 2 | $4,500 | $6,000 | $10,500 |
| 3 and later | $5,500 | $7,000 | $12,500 |
| Subsidized and Unsubsidized Aggregate Loans | $57,000 - No more than $23,000 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
If you are a dependent student whose parents are ineligible for a Parent Plus Loan you may be able to receive additional Unsubsidised Loan funds.
| Year of course | Unsubsidised loan | Maximum loan |
| All years | $20,500 | $20,500 |
| Subsidised and Unsubsidised Aggregate Loans |
$138,500 for graduates or Professional students. No more than $65,500 of this amount may be in subsidized Loans. The graduate aggregate limit includes all federal loans received for Undergraduate Study. |
Please note that if your total amount of loans accrued over the duration of your education reaches the aggregate amount then you are not eligible for further loans. If you repay some of the loans to bring the outstanding loan debt below the aggregate limit, you can borrow up to the amount of your remaining eligibility, under the aggregate loan limit set out above.
For the Subsidised loan, the US Government will pay the interest on the loan whilst you the student are at university or at least half time, for the 6 months grace period after leaving University, drop below the half time enrolment or if you qualify for deferment.
For the unsubsidised loan, the student is responsible for paying the interest on the loan from the point of disbursement.
For the Subsidised loan, the US Government will pay the interest on the loan whilst you the student are at university or at least half time, for the 6 months grace period after leaving University, drop below the half time enrolment or if you qualify for deferment.
For the unsubsidised loan, the student is responsible for paying the interest on the loan from the point of disbursement.
| Type of loan | Borrower type | Interest rate on or after July 1 2023 and before July 1 2024. |
| Direct Subsidized |
Undergraduate You are not usually charged interest on the loan during certain periods, such as when you are in school at least half-time. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is the lender; payment is owed to ED |
5.50% |
| Direct Unsubsidized |
Undergraduate You are responsible for paying the interest during all periods. ED is the lender; payment is owed to ED. |
5.50% |
| Direct Unsubsidized Loans |
Graduate/Professional You are responsible for paying the interest during all periods. ED is the lender; payment is owed to ED. |
7.05% |
*The originating loan fee is a percentage of the loan amount and is proportionately deducted from each loan disbursement. Please refer to the interest rate link above for information about the origination fee.
Federal Direct Parent and Grad PLUS Loans may be used as supplementary funding when subsidised and unsubsidised loan maximums are reached. As always, the total amount you may borrow in student loans for any academic year is limited to your annual calculated cost of attendance minus all other sources of funding such as Scholarships/Bursaries.
Only available to graduates. Application for this loan can be made on the student loans website.
| Type of loan | Borrower type | Interest rate on or after July 1 2023 and before July 1 2024. |
| Direct Plus loan |
For parents who are borrowing money to pay for their dependent undergraduate child’s education, and for graduate or professional degree student’s;** financial need isn’t required. You must not have an adverse credit history (unless you meet certain additional eligibility requirements).*** ED is the lender; payment is owed to ED. |
8.05% |
*The originating loan fee is a percentage of the loan amount and is proportionately deducted from each loan disbursement.
**Learn about dependency status on the Student Aid website.
***Learn about PLUS loans and adverse credit on the Student Aid website.
Only available to parents of Undergraduate students, who are enrolled in at least half time. Interest is charged from the date of the first disbursement up until the loan has been fully paid. More information can be found on the Student Aid website.
You may want to apply for a private loan to cover the cost of education not met by Stafford and Plus loans.
If you are over 24 and studying an undergraduate course, PLUS loans are not available so private loans may be your only other option.
The University does not recommend any private lender. As far as we are aware, there is only one private lender that has loans available to US citizens receiving their degrees at a foreign school.
For students interested in getting more information on private loans, you may wish to explore The GEMS Smart Option Loan by Sallie Mae on the Global Education website.
Private loans are not part of the Direct Loan scheme and not covered by Federal Student Aid Regulations.
Code of Conduct concerning Loans-
In order to prohibit a conflict of interest with the responsibilities of an agent with respect to private educational loans, all agents at the University with the responsibility for US loans are prohibited from:
- Revenue sharing arrangement with any lender
- Receiving gift from lender, a guarantor or a loan servicer
- Contracting arrangement providing financial benefits from any lender
- Directing borrowers to particular lenders or refusing or delaying loan certifications
- Offer of funds for private loans
- Advisory board compensation
How to apply for your US Federal loan
All loans are handled by the Student Money Team and all students should register as soon as possible using the following email address:
USloans@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.
Step 1: When applying for your US Loans, the first step is to complete the FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid, this is done online on the Student Aid website.
You will need to quote the Leeds Beckett School code G35014
Please note that the school finder may list the school under their old name of Leeds Metropolitan University. The US Department of Education has not updated this. If you click on this, it will link to Leeds Beckett University.
The FAFSA is available from the 1st October and you will need to complete a new FAFSA for every year of study at the University. The deadline to apply for 2022-23 is 30th June 2024.
Step 2: The University will send you a student information form for you to fill in and return to the following mailbox. This form will allow the team to download the Student Aid Report generated by your completion of the FAFSA and is a requirement when a student is applying for their federal funding.
For further assistance, please contact our US Loans team by email at USloans@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.
If any information is missing or there are comments stating further information is required, you will need to make corrections and re-submit your application. If there is a C shown next to the EFC, further information will be required.
Check the comments codes and make any necessary corrections. In some cases, we may need to ask you to provide documentary evidence (such as proof of US citizenship).
Once this has been received the loans administrator will send an information form to the course administrator for your course to obtain further details about the course you have chosen to study.
Please note that courses which are Distance Learning only are not eligible for Federal funding and although part time courses can get funding there are visa restrictions.
Step 3: Following receipt of these two documents and once we have reviewed your SAR to ensure eligibility, the US Loans team will calculate a cost of attendance (COA) (which will be an estimated figure and only for guidance purposes). The COA is made up of fixed costs and is not based upon an individual’s circumstances. The student’s EFC will be considered.
Please note you are not able to borrow more than your total calculated Cost of Attendance (COA).
An Undergraduates course duration is typically 39 weeks and a Postgraduate and Research graduate will be 52 weeks for September starters and 52 weeks for January starters. Typical costs included in the COA are below.
Please click on the link below to get a more detailed description of the costs.
What is the Cost of Attendance?
Find out more
You will only qualify as an independent student if you meet the following criteria
- You were 24 years old by 31st December of the award year
- You are married when you applied for your loan
- You have at least one child who receives more than half of their support from yourself
- You are an orphan or ward of court or were so until the age of 18
- You are a US Armed Forces veteran
If you intend to apply for a Graduate Plus Loan (or your parents apply for a Parent Plus Loan), you / they will need to also complete a master promissory note (MPN) and credit check through the Student Aid website.
As part of the process to apply for your loans you will also need to complete Entrance Counselling for each loan taken out and send in a copy of this to the US loans administrator. Again, failure to do this will impact on your loans being disbursed. Entrance Counselling can be done through the Student Aid website.
Parents of students, who have applied for a Parent Plus loan will have to undergo a credit check and complete entrance counselling and will also need to complete a document that states who the money should be paid too.
The form will be sent to the student for the parent to complete prior to any funds being disbursed.
Students and parents have the right to cancel all or part of their loan prior to disbursement but must give the school at least 2 weeks notice, in order for them to comply with the student request.
The Exchange rate used to convert the UK Pound sterling figures to USD is fixed at a certain date and does not vary thereafter.
Loans for Postgraduates are divided into 3 equal instalments at the beginning of term, Undergraduates receive 2 instalments. At each disbursement if there is a tuition fee to pay this will be divided by the number of disbursements and deducted off the loan.
The student is advised to set up a UK bank account following their enrolment with the University as any money paid to the student cannot be paid into a US bank account. If a student is having issues setting up an account initially payment can be made in the form of a UK check (however please note the length of time a check takes to clear will vary between banks).
The Finance office is responsible for making any payments to the student and act on the recommendations of the US Loans office. Who will ascertain what deductions need to be made for Tuition Fees and University accommodation prior to any payments to the student.
Due to the nature of the process all students are advised to bring sufficient money to sustain their living costs for approximately 2-3 weeks.
Disbursement dates
- Undergraduates:
- Fall start 2023-24
First disbursement: 2nd October 2023
Second disbursement: 12th February 2024
- Fall start 2023-24
- Postgraduates:
- Fall start 2023-24
First disbursement: 2nd October 2023
Second disbursement: 29th January 2024
Third disbursement: 20th May 2024 - Spring start 2023-24
First disbursement: 29th January 2024
Second disbursement: 20th May 2024
Third disbursement: 23rd September 2024
- Fall start 2023-24
Whilst you are on your course there are three areas that the US loans team will be looking at and will need to report to the US Department of Education:
- Satisfactory Academic Progress
- Enrolment Full time or Part Time
- Attendance
Satisfactory Academic Progress
While in receipt of Federal loan funds for the loan period outlined on your loan application, you are required to be enrolled on your programme of study and to maintain satisfactory academic progress. We will check your progress with your School before releasing loan funds.
If you fail to meet the required standard in any period, you will be issues with a Financial Aid Warning, which will allow you to receive your loan for one payment period, you can appeal and if this is successful you will then be placed on Financial Aid Probation. Please review the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy.
Withdrawal from your course
If you withdraw from your course, you must inform the US loans administrator no later than five working days after withdrawal in addition to notifying your course office.
If a student has a suspension of studies, again the student is required to notify the US loans administrator as soon as possible to ensure the correct procedures are followed.
If a student who receives financial aid withdraws from their course, we will recalculate your financial aid eligibility based on your period of attendance. The University may have to repay funds received for tuition and/or accommodation to the US Federal Government.
Any calculation will be undertaken in line with the rules set by the US Department of Education and cannot be amended in any way. More information can be found on our student information webpage.
Should a student receive Title IV Federal Aid Funding and then cease to be enrolled prior to the end of the payment period, a Return to Title IV (R2T4) will need to be completed, the unearned funds will be returned to the US Department of Education. The formula used to calculate the amount of earned and unearned funds is provided by the US Department of Education and is separate from the Universities Refund Policy.
For the purposes of completing the calculation, the University uses the dates of withdrawal/last day of the student’s attendances recorded on the Universities Student Records System.
Once a student has completed more than 60% of the payment period, a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds they were scheduled to receive in the payment period. In the case of a student completing less than and equal to 60% of the payment period, a pro rata schedule is used to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student will have earned up to the point of withdrawal. The University must also determine if there is a post withdrawal disbursement to be made.
A student needs to complete Entrance Counselling when applying for their Federal Loans for each loan taken out and Exit Counselling.
Exit Counselling is required at the end of the course for each year of study. Please visit the Student Aid website for more information.
