Institutional & Financial Aid information
At LSE, all Federal and Private US loans are handled by the Fees Office
For information on scholarships/awards and student funding please visit the Financial Support Office webpages. For information on Federal Aid, fee payments and general financial aid information please see Fees and Student Finance
Eligibility
You may borrow up to the Cost of Attendance and no more.
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The Cost of Attendance spreadsheet is set by the school but may be adjusted by the student to reflect your specific needs but keeping within the parameters set by the school.
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The spreadsheet will give warnings if too much loan is requested. Two types of loans are available to you, Federal (Stafford) loans Direct Lending, and private loans.
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Students should only use the Cost of Attendance spreadsheet for the academic year in which they are registered
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Applications for each new academic cycle can be submitted from June 1st onwards
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The LSE School code (OPE) is G06693
Federal Stafford loan/Direct Lending
There is an entitlement to Subsidised (Undergraduates only) and Unsubsidised loans which have fixed limits depending on whether the student is dependent, independent or postgraduate. These may be topped up to the full cost of attendance with a PLUS loan which is not an entitlement, but is subject to credit checking and may be declined by the Ed Dept.
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Loan Limits for …
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All Students
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Dependent Students
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Independent Students
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Subsidised Loan
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Unsubsidised Loan
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Unsubsidised Loan
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Undergraduate year1
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$3,500
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$2,000
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$6,000
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Undergraduate year 2
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$4,500
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$2,000
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$6,000
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Undergraduate year 3
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$5,500
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$2,000
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$7,000
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Postgraduates
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$20,500
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PLUS Loan
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Balance up to Cost of Attendance
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The US Education Department charge an origination fee on all loans and this is deducted from each disbursement. The value of the fees and the disbursements are shown in the Cost of Attendance spreadsheet. For more detailed information, see the Education Department's Student Aid website
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The LSE is required by USDE Regulations to ensure that all students receiving Federal aid (subsidized, unsubsidized and PLUS) are making satisfactory academic progress. If you fail to meet SAP you will become ineligible for US Direct Loans. For further information and the School policy please see: Satisfactory Academic Progress
Eligibility by course type
There are some programmes which are ineligible for Title IV Direct Aid, you will be advised by the Fees Office during the application cycle if your programme is ineligible.
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General Course Students, your loans are handled through your home college, you should apply to your 'home' college.
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Summer School students who are also taking an LSE degree are eligible for Federal Loans.The Summer School costs can be added to your Cost of Attendance for your degree,but it cannot be disbursed in advance.
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Summer School students who are not taking an LSE degree are only be eligible for a private loan from Sallie Mae and must apply on line
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LSE Degree Students may borrow up to your Cost of Attendance.
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Joint courses with US schools are ineligible for loans
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Double degrees with US schools are ineligible
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Joint courses with US schools are not eligible for loans
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Joint programmes with China are eligible for loans for the time spent in the UK, for the time spent in China only private loans are available
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If you course has any requirement to study in the U.S the course will become ineligible
How much you can borrow and how to apply
Applications for 2016/17 are now open
Applicants may borrow up to the Cost of Attendance which is set by the school, the maximum loans you can receive cannot exceed the yearly cost of attendance less any financial aid you may be receiving. This financial aid includes:
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Sponsorship
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Financial aid from the LSE such as scholarship and or award
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Other Financial aid from the UK
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Other Financial aid from the USA
Our Cost of Attendance spreadsheet has all this information your need built into it and includes the letter which notifies you of the loans you will receive and their disbursement dates and values.
The cost of attendance spreadsheet is broken down into two sets of costs:
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Weekly costs in GBP
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Suggested single costs in GBP
You MUST follow the instructions in the process flowchart found below, this flowchart outlines steps you are required to undertake on-line and the correct order. The chart also confirms what you must print, scan or pdf to send to us.
You MUST complete the Cost of Attendance Spreadsheet, including the checklist of the things you need to send us by email. Download these now and start your application.
Documents to download:
Please note our School Code: G06693
If any documents are missing from your email to us, we cannot begin processing, we will email and advise you to start again.
When you have finished, send the completed spreadsheet, with all the documents attached,by email to fees@lse.ac.uk subject field: USL indicating your Surname & forename and Student ID number
When we have completed our loan packaging we will send you a signed and stamped letter confirming the loans we have originated.
Loan disbursement
ALL Federal loans originated by the LSE will be disbursed in the three equal instalments during the first week of each term
The actual GBP sterling you receive will vary as it is dependent upon the exchange rate from USD $ to GBP £ at the time of disbursement.
The expected disbursement dates for 2016/7
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September 22nd 2016
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January 09th 2017
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April 24th 2017
Please note these dates are subject to change, we will aim to update students to any change of the advertised schedule.
All disbursements are subject to the following conditions
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You are making satisfactory academic progress
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You are enrolled at least part time(Half time)
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You are not in USA
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You have not violated any federal compliance regulations (repayment default, fraud, drugs,
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You will be advised by email that a disbursement is due and its value and how much is due to be deducted from it. When you receive this email, you may contact us to reduce or cancel the disbursement.
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WARNING - if you don't warn us in advance not to draw down your disbursement, then you will be responsible for all interest charges and for its repayment
Deadlines:
To ensure your loan is disbursed in time the LSE Fees Office must have received your completed application by September 07th 2016. Any applications received after this date will be deemed late applications and as such disbursements will fall outside of the advertised dates. If you fall into this category we will email you to advise of the next available disbursement dates.
When your loan cheque will be available
You will receive an email at your LSE email address when your cheque is ready for collection. You can also see your cheque on your fees page of LSE for YOU as transaction type USL_CHQ
When we initiate disbursement, if there is anything which blocks yours, we will immediately contact you by email and tell you what to do. Make sure that the email address LSE has for you is current.
If you did not get your complete application pack to LSE before 12th September, your loans may be delayed.
If your loan disbursement is not enough to cover one third of your tuition and one third of your LSE hall fee, then there may not be a cheque for you to collect.
How to collect your cheque
Your cheque will be in £Sterling, no exceptions. You must be enrolled. When you have registered, and either received an email saying your cheque is ready or you see your cheque on LSE for YOU, you can go to the Student Services Centre to collect your cheque. You must bring your LSE student card with you.
Staff are not allowed to release your cheque if you do not have your LSE card with you. No exceptions.
If your cheque is not showing on LSE for YOU, then your money is not received, please check your email.
What to do with your cheque
You must bank the cheque which takes 3 days to "clear" before you can start to spend it. It takes up to 10 days to open a bank account in the UK before you can bank the cheque.You can't start to open an account until you are registered and have a proved address.
How much money you will get and in which currency
You will only get one third of your loans each term, this is a USDE regulation, there are deductions taken from that value.
The government deducts an 'Origination Fee' from each disbursement. The COA spreadsheet you completed at application showed how much you can borrow and how much you actually receive after the government deducts an 'Origination Fee' from each loan disbursement. The value you are going to receive is shown on the letter sent to you by LSE when we originated your loan.
The money is transferred to the UK and converted into £sterling. The school is not allowed to charge any fee or receive any commission for processing your loan., so the money received by you is exactly what the school received in £sterling.
LSE will deduct one third of the tuition fee and one third of any LSE hall fees, as known at the time.
The balance is paid to you by £sterling cheque
If the value of your disbursement does not cover all the deductions, you will not receive a cheque. If have only applied for Sub/Unsub loans, it is unlikely that you will receive a cheque but will have to pay the shortfall in tuition and halls yourself.
When will you receive your disbursements
You will receive each disbursements in the first week of each term. The dates were in the letter sent to you by the Fees Office for your visa.
All disbursements are subject to the following conditions
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You are making satisfactory academic progress
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You are enrolled at least part time
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You are not in USA
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Your have not violated any federal compliance regulations (repayment default, fraud, drugs,
You will be advised by email that a disbursement is due and its value and how much is due to be deducted from it. When you receive this email, you may contact us to reduce or cancel the disbursement. Please note if you wish to cancel to cancel or reduce a loan during the year we may require a minimum of 10 business days prior to the next disbursement. To make a change please email fees@lse.ac.uk clealy stating if you wish to cancel a disbursement or the entire loan. If you wish to reduce your loan please clearly state the $ USD amount you iwh to reduce your disbursement by.
WARNING - if you don't warn us in advance not to draw down your disbursement, then you will be responsible for all interest charges and for its repayment.
Please ensure you have sufficient funds to cover two weeks of maintenance costs should you loan be delayed for any reason.
Deferments
If you have previous loans which need repayment deferment, then you will need to request a deferment form from the Fees Office. This is a mail-merge document which we issue on request and not until after the registration period. - about 3rd week in October
We are not able to sign any deferment forms until after you have registered and will not accept any deferment forms to complete.
You must email fees@lse.ac.uk to request a form.
We will advise you by email when it is ready for collection from Student Service Centre, request are completed within 3-5 business days.
Entrance & Exit Counselling for Federal student loan borrowers
Federal Regulations require you to complete entrance and exit Counselling, this is audited. The school is required to ensure that you have completed entrance and exit counselling, this is also audited and the findings are reviewed by the USDE. There is no exception to this.
Entrance counselling:
All students wishing to borrow via the Direct Lending programme are required to undergo entrance counselling, this process will assist your understanding of the loan programme and underline your rights and responsibilities
You can complete entrance counselling via Student loans Gov website, you will need the pin you used to access FAFSA. Please be aware the LSE will not process your loans if you have not submitted confirmation of your entrance counselling with your loan application.
Exit Counselling:
US regulation required all students who withdraw, graduate, or drop below half-time attendance (even if you plan to transfer to another school) to complete exit counselling
Exit counselling helps you understand your rights and responsibilities as a student loan borrower. It provides useful tips and information to help you manage your loan
1. You must complete NSLDS Exit Counselling. This is done on-lineNSLDS just like your entrance counselling, just go to NSLDS and work through the pages (you will need your FAFSA log-in and PIN) . You can also download the PDF guide exitcounselguide
2. You must send proof that you have successfully completed the counselling. Scan/PDF the final “congratulations” page and email this to fees@lse.ac.uk Please enter USL Completed Exit Counselling in the subject field of the email.
Further information:
UK banking
Your cheque is in £sterling and you need to bank it to use for living expenses.
You will have no access to your funds until it 'clears' which is three full days after banking.
You will need a UK bank account which takes about 10 days to open.
You cannot start the process until you are actually in London with proof that you are living at that London address which is not a hotel. You also have to be a registered student and carrying your LSE student card and carrying your passport. The process takes about 10 days including checks on individuals and on addresses for the detection of fraud and to prevent the movement of money for illegal activities including terrorism. LSE will not tell you which bank to use.
Your options are:-
Open and use an account with any UK bank
You need to download a certificate from LSE for YOU after you have your London address fixed and entered on the student record system. When the account is open you can bank the cheque, 3 days later you can start to use the money.
Send Cheque(s) back to USA
Bank the £sterling cheque(s) in your US account which can take a few weeks to clear and exchange. Doing this may also lose you money on foreign exchange
If you have private loan $USD cheques from Sallie Mae, then your only sensible option is to send cheques to USA for banking which should only take a few days to 'clear.'
Important information:
Because you have to bank your cheque,
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You will not be able to start spending the money for about 2-3 weeks after registration;
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That is how long it takes to open a bank account and 'clear' the cheque.
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Please prepare sufficient money - cash or cards for living expenses until your cheque clears.