US Financial Aid

To receive aid, including Federal Direct and PLUS Loans, a student must meet eligibility requirements as listed on the Student Aid website.

You cannot receive US government loans if you:

• Study at RCS via Distance Learning
• Study a Diploma or a Certificate programme

As a foreign school RCS is eligible to originate loan applications for Federal Direct Loans and PLUS loans. Information on these types of loans can be found at: https://studentaid.gov/ or in our US Loan guide.

• Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans
• Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan
• Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
• Private Loans – Please see the Private Loans section.

Any student wanting to take out a direct loan needs to complete a FAFSA at https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

For undergraduate students, Direct Subsidized or Direct Unsubsidized Loan, or a combination of both loans, are based on your financial need. The information you give on your FAFSA is used to calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is a formula that permits RCS to work out your financial need. To work out your financial need, your EFC is subtracted from your cost of attendance (COA) for need-based loans. RCS will also take off any other aid awarded to you or on your behalf for educational expenses. This is called Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA).

Full and detailed steps can be found in the US Loan guide

In May/June of each year RCS will:

• Receive and review Student Aid Reports once new and returning students have completed the FAFSAs
• Calculate the Cost of Attendance for each programme of study
• Establish the Cost of Attendance exchange rate for the upcoming academic year

In July of each year RCS will:

• Package loans and offer students and families awards

In July/August of each year RCS will:

• Originate loans
• Notify students of disbursement schedules

What if I’m coming to RCS as an Exchange or Study Abroad student?

Exchange students attending RCS for one or two terms or for a full academic year should apply for financial aid through their home institution.

What if I’m a RCS student going abroad on an Exchange?

RCS students studying on an exchange programme out with the Conservatoire through a partnership arrangement with another Conservatoire (or equivalent), must ensure that the following conditions are met in order to remain eligible for Federal Aid:

• Your study abroad institution must also be a participating and approved Federal Aid (Title IV) school
• Your study abroad institution must not be in the USA
• Your study abroad period must account for no more than 25% of your programme of study

You may borrow federal funds up to a standard cost of attendance (COA) as the combined maximum of your loans. The COA is comprised of tuition fees and living costs only, minus any Expected Financial Aid (EFA) which includes any bursaries, scholarships, grants or other awards. The COA will be determined by the Conservatoire and not the student. The amount you can borrow via each loan type is subject to specific limits depending on your course and your year of study. Please note there will be a fee for originating a loan.

Students funding their studies by US Federal Loans will automatically have their enrolment details reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) every month but if a student not currently in receipt of US Federal Loans wishes to be reported to NSLDS for loan deferment purposes they should contact usloans@rcs.ac.uk to request this.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Return to Title IV

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Students who are unable to take out US federal loans or who do not meet the criteria for a US federal loan can borrow from private lenders in the US. For instance, students wishing to study a course which is not approved for federal US loans (Artistic Diploma), or students on distance learning courses based in the US but enrolled on a UK degree course at RCS.

We advise that if you are eligible for US federal loans, you investigate these before applying for a US private student loan, as federal loans are often cheaper and most American students are eligible for them. Please note that US private student loans do not enable you to borrow more funds than US federal loans.

If you wish to apply for a private US student loan, please email US Federal loans. From May onwards, the we will email you a Cost of Attendance to inform you of the amount of loan you are able to borrow.

The Conservatoire is willing to work with any lender who offers alternative educational loans to students enrolled at foreign schools. Currently we are aware of only one such lender, Sallie-Mae Student Loans. Further information can be found at: https://www.salliemae.com/student-loans/

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland does not have a EIN and does not complete 1098-T forms for US students. RCS is an eligible educational institution and so US students should not need a 1098-T form or an EIN when applying for a credit on educational expenses. It should be sufficient to state that you didn’t get a 1098-T form and that you qualify for an exception.