How to Apply

Please note a very detailed instruction document is available for students wishing to apply for Federal Loans.

This video provides an overview of the process.

If this is your first experience of Federal Aid I recommend reading through the following website providing useful information about Federal Aid: https://studentaid.ed.gov

Fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) and send your SAR (Student Aid Report) to the Financial Aid Team at UCD.

Go to FAFSA website and fill in necessary information.

You will need:

• PIN from the Department of Education before you begin (available on FAFSA website)
• Your tax documents from the previous year (if applicable – if you are not required to file taxes, you can fill out the FAFSA without them)
• To ensure that you list UCD as one of the schools you are planning to attend, entering School Code: G10188.

Applications to FAFSA will produce a Student Aid Report (SAR), which UCD requires to determine your eligibility for loans. A few days after you fill out the FAFSA, you will be sent a link via email to your SAR. When you receive your SAR, contact UCD by email. UCD does not receive this information automatically from FAFSA.

Please look into this video on what happens next after filling in your FAFSA.

The purpose of loan entrance counselling is to help students to better understand their responsibilities in relation to their loans. It is a federal requirement. Direct Loan Entrance Counselling will explain the Direct Loan obligation you agree to meet as a condition for receiving a Federal Direct Loan. Loan applications will not be processed until Entrance Counselling has been completed.

Federal Regulations require all students to complete ‘Entrance Counselling’ prior to the disbursement of financial aid.

Loan Entrance Counselling can be completed at the following website: https://studentaid.gov/entrance-counseling/

NOTE: Please download the Entrance Counselling document as PDF so that you can submit it along with other documents as outlined in the 2024-2025 Federal Aid Handbook. 

The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is the contract between the borrower and the US Government. It details your obligations when it comes to repaying your loans.

UCD cannot originate loans until the relevant MPNs have been signed. MPNs need to be signed by students (or their parents, for Parent PLUS Loans). The following categories of MPN exist:

• Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans (signed by student)
• Graduate PLUS Loans (signed by student)
• Parent PLUS Loans (signed by parent)

For non-US universities, new MPNs need to be signed each year that a student wants to borrow loans.

To sign the relevent MPNs, go to: https://studentaid.gov/mpn

NOTE: Please download the MPNs as PDF as these are required as part of your Federal Aid application.

UCD sends students a Cost of Attendance (COA) letter after the University receives their FAFSA Student Aid Report (SAR). The COA is a calculation to determine the maximum students can borrow for the coming year. It incorporates both information from each student's SAR and the following elements:

• Known Costs: Tuition, other programme fees
• Average Costs: These are good average costs for living expenses at UCD, which would allow a single student to complete attend their programme
• Scholarship and Grants: These decrease the maximum loan amount that a student can borrow.

It is important for students to review their COA when they receive it. The COA calculation is only as accurate as the information it contains. If you notice anything wrong with your COA, email federalaid@ucd.ie immediately.

The COA will show the maximum that students can borrow for the coming year.

Once students receive their COA, they should determine the loan amount they will borrow (if any), based on their needs and ability to repay.

Additionally, UCD provides a breakdown of living costs in Dublin. Students should use this to get a good idea of how much they can expect to spend in Dublin.

For an idea of what your repayments will look like, see the US Education Department's loan repayment simulator.

You must complete our online application* as per our Instruction Documentation for loans to be originated on time.

We require the following documentation from you in order to comply with US Department of Education regulations

For New undergraduate/graduate students:

1. Offer letter/acceptance letter from UCD (photocopy)
2. Official transcripts from previous universities (photocopy)
3. Copy of current passport
4. Signed Master Promissory Note (MPN) for Subsidised/Unsubsidised loans and PLUS loans (if applicable)
5. Completed Loan Entrance Counselling
6. Annual Acknowledgement of Student Loans

We do not require certified copies or originals of your transcripts, photocopies are fine, however we cannot accept any unofficial copies of your transcript. The transcript must have a final completion date as per regulations.

For continuing undergraduate/graduate students:

1. Student Aid Report (PDF)
2. Signed Master Promissory Note (MPN) for Subsidised/Unsubsidised loans and PLUS loans (if applicable)
3. Completed Loan Entrance Counselling
4. Annual Acknowledgement of Student Loans

*If you are having issues with our online application, please send all documentation in one email to federalaid@ucd.ie and we will try to resolve any system-related issues.

The online federal aid application will display the following two statuses once you submit your application:

Application Submitted, Awaiting Review - This means your application has been successfully submitted, but that it has not yet been reviewed by UCD staff.

Application Reviewed, Loan Origination Pending - This status means a UCD staff member has reviewed your application, and it has been confirmed as correct.

Loan Originated - Your loans have been originated, and are ready for disbursement on the designated date. Your personalised Cost of Attendance Document contains an Award Letter which shows  your expected disbursement dates and disbursement amounts.

Please note Loan Origination does not happen until 10 days before the start of semester.

If all the above steps (Step 1 - Step 5) were completed successfully, your loan request is verified and this request is created on the United States Department of Education (USDE) systems. Once this loan amount is disbursed by the USDE, these funds are then transferred to UCD and students receive a confirmation email from the USDE.

Further information about Loan origination and disbursement is provided in the Instruction Document.

Funds are sent to UCD in two or three instalments over the academic year depending on your course or level of study, and will coincide with your fee payment dates. Please visit the Fees & Grants website for further information.

In general undergraduate, medicine and veterinary students will receive half of the money in September and another half in January. Masters and PhD students will receive their money in thirds, in September, January and May.

Loan funds may only be disbursed to your account 10 days before the start of the academic semester. However international bank transfers can take a number of days to process, please note you will not have immediate access to your loan funds when you arrive in Ireland. You will need to prepare for this by bringing sufficient money for this period of time.

Once funds are deducted for tuition and other university-related fees, the remainder will be given to you by electronic fees transfer (EFT), which can be used for your living expenses. To facilitate this process, these payments will be transferred electronically into your designated Irish bank account. Once you set up an Irish bank account, you must enter your bank details into our Student Information System. Please consult your Irish bank to ensure details entered are exactly as required for an electronic transfer into your Irish bank account

Further information with detailed instructions will be sent to students and are also available in our Instruction Document.

Note: You will not have immediate access to your loan funds when you arrive in Ireland - you will need to prepare for this by bringing sufficient money with you to cover your first 1-2 months expenses, especially if your loan application was late. While we try our best to make the loan process as smooth as possible, sometimes delays and problems occur that are out of our control.