About United States student funding

A range of financial support is available to eligible students from America, including national, regional and federal loans, private loans and more.

Find out what kind of funding you may be able to access and who to contact to make further enquiries.

Tuition fee deposit

If you are an international taught postgraduate student then you have to pay a tuition fee deposit before beginning your course. However, if you are eligible for a US Federal Loan then you do not have to pay the tuition fee deposit. Eligible students will automatically be made exempt, once they have been assessed as eligible for a Federal Loan.

US Federal Loan

You can apply for federal funding through the Direct Loan Program

Students at international universities are eligible to apply for:

  • Stafford loans
  • PLUS loans

Students at international universities cannot apply for the Pell Grant.

We are not able to approved US Federal loans for:

  • distance learning courses
  • Medicine
  • Nursing
  • PGCE
  • Dentistry
  • any Advanced Diploma course.

Private loans

Students are advised to take any Federal Loan they are entitled to before considering any other type of loan, due to the competitive interest rate and repayment benefits they offer.  A detailed comparison of Federal and Private Loans is published via the Federal Student Aid website. 

We will certify educational loans taken through any private lenders who lend to students at international universities.

Distance-learning students can apply for private loans such as Sallie Mae’s Smart Option Student Loan or Earnest loans.

Term dates

The term dates we use to define the payment periods are dependant on the course that you study. If you are studying an undergraduate programe then we will use the sememster dates defined in the university almanac. If you are studying on a taught postgraduate programme then your term dates will run from September to September but the start and end dates will vary based on the programme. Research postgraduate programmes start on the 1st of the month you commence study and your year will be broken into 2 six month periods.

Consumer information

As part of the William D Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Standards for Participation), the University of Leeds is required to provide this consumer information

Related Items

Return of Title IV funds

1.    Overview  This policy applies only to eligible US and non-US citizens receiving Title IV Funding (W D Ford Federal Direct Loans). If a student who is in receipt of Title IV Financial Aid withdraws, suspends studies for more than 180 days, or drops below half-time attendance the University of Leeds must determine whether any funds must be returned to the US Federal Aid programme. This determination will be made in accordance with the Return of Title IV (R2T4) Aid requirements of section 484B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) and CFR 34 668.22 of the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations. The Return of Title IV Aid requirements were added to the HEA by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (Public Law 105-244, enacted October 7, 1998).