U.S. Financial Aid
The term “Financial Aid” refers to funds provided by the US Department of Education, intended to help US students pay for tuition and other costs associated with studying at university.
In order to apply for Student Aid you must be:
• A US Citizen;
• A US Permanent Resident.
Important information
Our US students can receive loans using the US Department of Education’s Federal Financial Aid programme. Eligible students can borrow up to the full cost of attendance (tuition fees and all living costs) for the duration of their studies with us. As of 24th April 2012, we expect this situation to remain unchanged for 2012 entry.
However, in November 2011, a significant number of UK institutions (ourselves, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Oxford and Cambridge University colleges are among them) were informed, via a posting on the US Department of Education website, that, because we do not award our own degrees, we may be ineligible for US Federal Financial Aid. This stems from a misunderstanding of the way that smaller institutions in the UK have their quality of teaching and the award of their degrees validated by other institutions. Ours are validated by Liverpool John Moores University. These validating bodies are approved by the UK Department of Education and the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency.
As a group of UK institutions, we have written to the US Department of Education requesting that they revisit this and clarify the situation. As we have not formally been advised that we are ineligible for US Federal Aid, we believe that our US students will continue to be eligible to receive funding. We will keep you posted if there are any developments.
What can I Use U.S. Financial Aid for?
You can use Financial Aid to cover the total cost of attendance on the one year foundation certificate and undergraduate study at LIPA.
How do I apply for U.S. Financial Aid?
To apply for financial aid you must open the Direct Loan Flow Chart (found on the left hand side of this page) and follow the steps carefully and in the exact sequence shown on the flow chart.
You will need to fill out the FAFSA, print the SAR (for your records) and refer to the EFC found on the top right hand side of the front page.
Use your EFC for the Determining Your Eligibility form and the Cost of Attendance appropriate to the year and course you are starting or continuing. This can be found on the left hand side of this page.
NOTE – If your EFC is greater than the Cost of Attendance please enter these two figures only and leave the rest of the form blank as the calculation does not apply in this scenario. LIPA will work out the rest for you.
If you wish to borrow a Parent PLUS loan your parent must apply for a Credit Check and take a screen shot showing it is accepted; www.Studentloans.gov
You must complete a Promissory Note (MPN) for Direct Loans and your parent must complete one for the Parent PLUS loan. Save these files as pdf. Go to www.Studentloans.gov
You must then complete Entrance Counselling for Direct Loans and take a screen shot showing you have completed it.
Once you have completed all of the steps you must then send an email to international@lipa.ac.uk In the subject field enter ‘Completed Loan Docs’ and your full name.
You must attach the following to the email;
• Completed Determining Your Eligibility form
• A PDF copy of your MPN for Direct Loans
• Your Entrance Counselling screenshot
If you are applying for a PLUS loan;
• A pdf copy of your PLUS loan MPN
• Your accepted credit check screenshot
IMPORTANT – LIPA will not proceed with your loan application if you have any documents missing. Once you have completed the FAFSA the process should not take more than two hours. You must remember to save each file as a screenshot or pdf. If you do not do this it may take a few days to recover the information.
NOTE - If you are an Independent student you will not be eligible to apply for PLUS loans, however you can fund your studies using private loans. Please contact the international team to discuss your options.
What happens next?
Once we have received everything in the correct format we will send you an Eligibility Certificate. You and/or your parents must complete this form to confirm the loan amounts you wish to borrow and sign your compliance with LIPA and the US Department of Education borrower requirements, and send it back to international@lipa.ac.uk.
What if I cannot borrow from the US Department of Education?
If you cannot secure funding through federal loans, you may be eligible to borrow from a private lender. The only private loans currently available to students at foreign schools is the Smart Option Loan from Sallie Mae. To apply for a Smart Loan, you must apply on-line and then send a copy of your e-signed Promissory Note to international@lipa.ac.uk
How can I use my loans to support my visa application?
Once we have originated your loans we will send you a loan certificate which has been approved by the UKBA to support the financial requirements for gaining a visa.
IMPORTANT – You can only apply for your visa once you have the loans secured and the loan certificate. LIPA will not speed up the process for individual circumstances.
NOTE – You must ensure that what you are borrowing covers the maintenance requirements. This equals to the cost of tuition per year and £600 per month of the course of study.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
In order to remain eligible for funding from the US Department of Education you must continue to be enrolled as a LIPA student and maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in your studies. Our regulations regarding SAP can be found here.
Withdrawal
Students who withdraw from LIPA will be refunded in accordance with the US Department of Education regulations and loan money must be returned to the Department. Our policy regarding this process (known as R2T4) can be found in LIPA’s Green Book.
Important information for U.S. Students wishing to use Federal Financial aid to study a Foundation Certificate at LIPA.
Students wishing to take out loans for a LIPA one year Foundation Certificate may do so only if they intend to seek gainful employment after completing their studies. Loans cannot be disbursed to individuals intending to progress onto higher education studies either at LIPA or elsewhere.
LIPA’s four Foundation Certificates are deemed as Gainful Employment (GE) Programs by the US Department of Education and, as such, LIPA is obliged to make known various information about students graduating from these programmes. This information can be found here.
To contact the International Team please email or telephone;
international@lipa.ac.uk
+44 (0)151 330 3118
ternational Team. It is the approximate, all inclusive cost of one years’ study at LIPA.