Disbursements

• Your Loan Confirmation letter is confirmation that you have fully completed the US Federal Loan application process.
• Visa authorities accept this letter as evidence that you have the required funds to support your studies for the current academic year.
• To have your loan released, you must have completed the student registration process (new window), and provided your banking information on the Convera portal.
• Your loan payment should be made within 21 days of your programme starting, providing all conditions are met and there is no US Department of Education or Convera system maintenance or failures.
• Ensure you have enough personal funds to cover expenses until your loan disbursement.
• In the financial aid package, we ask if parents wish for the credit balance to be disbursed directly to the student or to themselves. If the credit balance is to go to the parent “borrower” they will need to provide their bank details to the student for uploading onto the Convera portal.

The School has partnered with Convera to process credit balance payments in a secure and compliant way. At the start of your academic year, you (the student), will be invited to submit your bank details via a secure platform so that we can settle your credit balance by EFT/ wire transfer.

Students have the option of receiving surplus loan funds in GBP or USD as a wire transfer. We strongly encourage students to open a UK bank account to receive their surplus loan funds.

Students who opt to provide their US bank details should be aware that their loan will first be converted into GBP and the surplus funds will need to be converted back to USD at the live interbank rate to settle the funds in a US bank account, no margin will be applied by Convera. If your bank is unable to accept international payments and uses a intermediary bank, please upload the final bank details to Convera send the intermediary instructions to usaloans@abdn.ac.uk so we can ensure Convera have the full details.

If a student does not enter GBP or USD bank account details, their loan disbursement will be delayed until these details are provided. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the details provided are correct. Where the Parent Plus "borrower" has stated any excess funds are to be paid to them, they will need to liaise with the student to ensure the correct details have been uploaded to the Convera portal. You should only enter your personal bank account details and not that of a third party or family member. We will audit the bank details submitted and may contact you to confirm that the bank details provided are correct.

Please note: We can pay Federal and Private student loans to an international bank account, but we will need to reconvert your surplus loan funds at the interbank rate. The University of Aberdeen is not liable for any exchange losses.

Please refer to Convera Loans Portal Guide for further instruction on how to submit your bank details.

Exchange Rates

• The actual GBP (£ Sterling) you receive will vary as it is dependent on the exchange rate from USD to GBP at the time of the disbursement. The rate applied will be a retail rate and not the interbank rate.
• Other banks may offer better rates. We have no plans to change our payment process.

Information about how to open a UK bank account can be found here. (opens in new window)

Following US Department of Education regulations, your loan will be paid to you in two or three equal instalments according to the dates on your loan confirmation letter.

• Undergraduate Students: 2 instalments - October and February
• PG Taught Students (Sept Starts): 3 instalments - October, February and June
• PG Taught Students (Jan/Feb Starts): 3 instalments - February, June and September
• PG Research Students: 2 instalments 6 months apart i.e. October Starts - October and April

For each disbursement, we are required to make sure that:

• You are making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
• Are enrolled at least half-time on an eligible programme
• Not studying in the United States or via online/ distance learning
• Have not violated any Federal compliance regulations

• Approximately 14 days before each disbursement, you (the student) and the Parent Plus "borrower" (where applicable) will receive a "Right to Cancel" email. This notice will:
  • Advise how much net loan(s) you are expected to receive in USD $
    • Before each disbursement, the US Department of Education deducts origination (loan) fees from each Direct Loan payment. For information about origination fees, please see: https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/interest-rates (new window)
  • How and when the disbursement will be made
  • Show the gross value, origination fee and net value due to be disbursed (in USD $)
  • Include the value in GBP £ expected to be applied to your institutional charges
  • Include advice and procedures on the borrower's right to cancel all or a portion of the loan, or amend the loan value, including deadlines.
  • Include details on anything else you need to know or do to receive your disbursement.

• A payment plan will be set up to align with your loan instalments. If you will live in University managed accommodation, your accommodation fees will also be included in the payment plan.
• Provided you are borrowing enough loans to cover your tuition fees, you do not have to make any tuition payments before arriving in Aberdeen or to confirm your registration.
• If you are not borrowing enough loans to cover your tuition fees, you will be required to pay 50% of your tuition fees to be registered. The remaining 50% will be split between your disbursement dates to reduce the balance payable later in the year.
• If you are studying an Undergraduate or Postgraduate Taught Programme and your full fees are due to be covered by US Federal Loans, US Private Student Loans or VA Benefits, you may not need to pay a deposit to confirm your place. 
  • https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/deposits/  
  • https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/deposits/ 

We are required to deduct institutional charges from each of your loan disbursements. Where your loan does not cover your instalment value, you will be required to settle the balance via www.abdn.ac.uk/epayments

At each disbursement, we will:

• Deduct the following values of tuition fees (where fees are due) - 50% for Undergraduate Students, 1/3rd for Postgraduate Taught students (1-year programmes) & 6 months for Postgraduate Research students (i.e. PhD).
• Deduct the following values of accommodation fees (if in University Halls of Residence) - 50% for Undergraduate & Postgraduate Research students & 1/3rd for Postgraduate Taught students (1-year programmes).
• Arrange any credit balance to be transferred to the bank details provided on the Convera portal.
• If charges are outstanding from earlier disbursements, additional loans may be retained.

Calculation: Loan less Tuition less University Accommodation fees = Credit Balance value paid to you in GBP (or USD if using a US Bank account).

If you have a University of Aberdeen Fee Scholarship or have paid fees directly to the School, we will include this in our calculations.

After institutional charges are deducted, any credit balance funds will be paid to you via the bank details you provide on the Convera portal.

Once your loan has been fully disbursed, you will be issued with a disbursement notification (for each disbursement) from Convera (noreply@convera.com) which will include:

• the net loan(s) disbursed in USD $
• exchange rate applied to disbursement
• values applied to your institutional charges
• credit balance refunded to you

The actual GBP (Sterling) or USD value you receive will vary as it is dependent on the exchange rate at the time of the disbursement. The rate applied will be a retail rate and not the interbank rate.