U.S. Federal Student Aid for Continuing Students

Before requesting new loans, please take the time to review your current loan situation so that you are aware of your current debt status and can make informed choices for the new year. The US Department of Education website here also contains a lot of useful information and tools to help you understand your loans. We advise you to also read through Being Loan Smart.

The process for continuing students is almost the same as for first-time applicants. Students should always refer to the latest 2024-2025 Federal Aid Handbook to see how to apply each year.

From the start of April each year, the link to upload your documents for U.S. Financial Aid will become available on SISweb. You should upload your SAR, Cost of Attendance, Award Letter, MPNs and Entrance Counselling through this link.

Eligible Programmes

The U.S. Department of Education has approved UCD to certify federal aid for eligible programs at the following levels:

• Undergraduate: Bachelor’s degree programs
• Graduate Taught: Master’s degree programs (MA, MSc, MEng, MBA, LLM)
• Graduate Research: PhD and MLitt degree programs
• Graduate Entry Veterinary Medicine

The following kinds of programs are always ineligible for federal aid at UCD:

• Distance / Online: If any part of a program is not taught through in-person instruction, it is ineligible for federal aid
• Nursing
• Graduate Diplomas, Higher Certificates etc.

If you have concerns about programme eligibility, please contact federalaid@ucd.ie.