US residents

Once your funding is approved, Financial Aid and Awards will request the direct loan funding. Once the request is approved, the funds will be sent by the U.S. Department of Education to the University. The payments are usually disbursed in two or three equal installments, in September, January and May (if applicable).

Funds are disbursed only once your enrolment is valid. They’re transferred electronically to your University of Ottawa student account in Canadian dollars on the scheduled disbursement date. The disbursement date is generally the beginning of each term, or whenever you’ve applied and your file is finalized.

Annual direct loan funding limits are determined by the U.S. Department of Education. For more, see How Much Can I Borrow? Limits vary based on your level and year of study, dependency status, loan type and the cost of attendance.

Cost of attendance is calculated based on actual tuition, incidental and compulsory fees, insurance fees, book costs, pro-rated personal and living costs based on accommodations on or off campus, actual local travel and the cost of one return trip to your home per term. Calculation of the cost of attendance is final and can’t be appealed. Cost of attendance is adjusted annually given changes in the cost of living in Ontario. 

The interest that accumulates on your loan depends on the type of loan  you’ve applied for and has been approved. In all cases, direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans have a fixed interest rate. For more, see Interest Rates and Fees for Federal Student Loans.

In addition to interest rates, most federal student loans have loan fees, which are a percentage of the total loan amount. The loan fee is deducted from the amount disbursed to you during your studies. This means that the money that you receive will be less than the amount that you borrow. You must pay back the entire amount that you borrow, or that’s approved, and not just the amount you receive. Learn more about interest rates and loan fees.

U.S. government regulations stipulate that Title IV funding recipients must maintain satisfactory academic progress to remain eligible for all types of U.S. Direct Loans. All students have their academic progress reviewed at the end of each academic year. If you haven’t met the SAP requirements, you aren’t eligible for U.S. Direct Loan funds for the following academic year.

SAP requirements are as follows:

• Qualitative component: Undergraduate students must have a CGPA of 4.0 (60–64%) at the end of each academic year. Graduate students must have a CGPA of 5.0 (65–69%) in each course credited towards their degree.
• Quantitative component: Undergraduate and graduate students must progress at a satisfactory pace to meet U.S. Department of Education quantitative standards. Pace of completion is calculated by dividing the total credits completed by total credits attempted. You must complete 67% of all credits attempted to meet this requirement.
• Timeframe component: You must finish your degree within 150% of the published length of degree completion time (in credits or in years, as applicable). For example, undergraduate students in a four-year program must successfully complete 18 credits over a two-term period to remain on track. This would enable you to complete your degree within the maximum timeframe (ex: 150% x 4 years = 6 years). For graduate students, the completion rate is based on the time limit set for your academic program in the University of Ottawa’s graduate calendar.

Courses in which your grade is ABS, EIN, NS, F or E are considered unearned credits and count towards your attempted credits only. Unearned credits will hinder your pace of completion of program requirements.

Withdrawals

Students in receipt of Direct Loan program Title IV funding who withdrew from courses for the payment period (i.e., term) aren’t eligible to receive further funding for that payment period. Course withdrawals are only counted in your quantitative component and not in your overall pace of completion.

Repeated courses

Courses that are repeated are included in the qualitative and quantitative components. These courses are counted as attempted units. You can’t receive federal student aid twice for a course for which you’ve already received credit. If you pass and receive credit for a course, but retake the course to get a better grade, you aren’t eligible to receive aid for the course a second time.

Transfer credits

Credits you’ve earned at a different institution are considered when calculating the quantitative component. Transfer credits aren’t used to determine your cumulative grade point average.

If you don’t meet the SAP requirements, you receive an email to your @uOttawa address informing you of your status. You’re considered on probation or suspended and have 10 business days to submit an appeal to Financial Aid and Awards. You must include the following with your appeal:

• A letter from you explaining the circumstances that led to you not meeting the SAP requirements (illness, injury, family crisis, disability reasons, etc.). You must describe the steps you’ll take to meet the SAP requirements moving forward.
• Documentation to support the reasons why you haven’t met the SAP requirements (medical documentation, letter from health care provider, etc.)

Once you submit your appeal, it will be reviewed in five to 10 business days. The possible outcomes of the appeal include:

• Full reinstatement of eligibility for U.S. Direct Loans and reinstatement of your good standing.
• A probationary period with possible conditions and reinstatement of your eligibility for U.S. Direct Loans.
• Denial or suspension of U.S. Direct Loans.

Additional information on probation status

meeting with an academic adviser in their faculty or presenting a strategic study plan.

At the end of the fall and winter terms, a re-evaluation of the SAP is completed to track your progress and ensure you’ve met the conditions in the original probation email. Failure to meet SAP requirements during the probationary period will result in a denial of your U.S. Direct Loans.

If you’ve already submitted an appeal and failed to meet your probation conditions, you can’t submit an additional appeal within the same academic year. You can submit an appeal for a subsequent academic year after you show that you’re back on track.

If your appeal is approved, you’re eligible for U.S. Direct Loans back to the beginning of the payment period in which it was approved. However, if your appeal is only approved after the payment period has ended, you’re not eligible for any loans for this period. You’re eligible for U.S. Direct Loans for the upcoming payment period if you meet the program eligibility requirements.

If after having submitted an appeal, you’re denied US Direct Loans but in a subsequent academic year meet the SAP requirements, you must submit your federal student aid application and notify the Financial Aid and Awards service that you wish to be reconsidered for aid. We’ll first evaluate your file to determine if you’ve met SAP requirements, and then evaluate your entitlement for U.S. Direct Loans for the year.

The U.S. Department of Education requires a Return of Title IV funds (R2T4) Calculation to be completed when students fully withdraw or reduce their course load to below half-time. This applies to students receiving all U.S. Direct Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), including Parent Plus and Graduate Plus Loans. The institution must determine via the R2T4 calculation if the funds disbursed must be returned to the U.S. government or if you’re entitled to keep all or a portion of the funding.

The R2T4 calculation is made according to a worksheet provided by the U.S. Department of Education. It determines how much of the loan you can keep and how much you must return. Federal student aid regulations require that institutions perform the R2T4 calculation within 30 days of the date the school determines the student’s withdrawal or reduced course enrolment.

However, you must still notify the Financial Aid and Awards Service of any changes to your enrolment. If the R2T4 determines that all or a portion of the funding must be returned to the U.S. Department of Education, the institution must return the funding within 45 days of the R2T4 calculation.

Withdrawals

You’re considered to have fully withdrawn from your payment period if you’ve dropped all courses or have reduced your enrolment below the federal student aid course load requirements. The University isn’t required to take attendance, but it’s expected that students receiving Title IV funding are attending all or at least most of their courses.

If you intend to reduce or drop all of you courses, you must do so according to University policies and procedures, and you must notify the Financial Aid and Awards Service by email at [email protected].   

Withdrawal date

Programs are measured in credit hours. The withdrawal date (also known as the date of determination) is established using the following:

Official withdrawal date:

• The date you notify the University of your intention to withdraw or your actual withdrawal date in the system.
• The withdrawal date indicated in your uOttawa Service Center (enrolment system).

Unofficial withdrawal date:

• The date the University becomes aware that you’re no longer attending through the scheduled enrolment verification reporting or via a notification from the faculty, or
• The last date you were attending  classes or the last date of an academically-related activity (i.e., submission of an assignment, completion of an exam, etc.)

Leaves of absence

A leave of absence (LOA) is a temporary interruption in your program of study during which you don’t attend classes. This is different from an institutionally-scheduled break. Students receiving Title IV funding via the Direct Loan program whose leave of absence is approved by their faculty must meet the following conditions for the leave to count as a temporary interruption as per U.S. Department of Education policy:

• You must submit a leave of absence request form including the reasons for the request to your faculty. The request must be evaluated in accordance with University policy.
• There must be a reasonable expectation that you’ll return to complete your program of study, and resume studies at the same point in the academic program as prior to the approval of your LOA.
• The LOA must not exceed 180 days in any 12-month period.

Note: If your LOA exceeds 180 days in any 12-month period, you’ll be considered as having withdrawn from your program.

Return of Title IV funds

The U.S. Department of Education requires the University to calculate the Return of Title IV funds via the R2T4 worksheet. If you fully withdraw or reduce your course load below the required level, the University must determine the earned and unearned portions of the Direct Loans that you’ve received as of the date that you stopped attending classes. This calculation must be completed within 30 days of the date of determination of your withdrawal or course load reduction.

If you’ve completed 60% or more of your funded study period, you can keep 100% of your U.S. Direct Loans, as it’s considered earned. If you’ve completed less than 60%, you must repay a portion of your loan, as it would be considered unearned. Unearned funds must be returned within 45 days of the R2T4 calculation.

The R2T4 calculation is based on the following:

• The number of days  you attended classes
• The number of days in the term or payment period for which you were granted funding
• The total amount of U.S. Direct Loans awarded or disbursed to, or accepted by, you

Brief explanation of the R2T4 calculation:

Following your withdrawal, the unearned aid amount is determined based on the calculation formulas provided by the U.S. Department of Education. This will vary based on your withdrawal date.

Based on your attendance, the percentage of aid you’ve earned in any loan payment period is determined as follows:

• The number of calendar days you’ve completed in the payment period is divided by the total number of calendars days of the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five days or more or periods for which you’ve been granted a leave of absence:

Number of days completed ÷ total number of days in loan payment period = % of payment period completed

• If the percentage calculated is greater than 60%, you’re considered to have earned 100% of the approved aid.
• If the percentage calculated is less than or equal to 60%, the amount of aid you’ve earned is determined by multiplying the total amount of the aid disbursed by this percentage:

Total aid disbursed x percentage completed = earned aid

• If the aid already disbursed equals the earned aid, no further action is required.
• If the aid already disbursed is greater than the earned aid, the difference must be returned to the appropriate Title IV aid program no later than 45 days after determining you’ve withdrawn from your program:

Total disbursed aid - earned aid = unearned aid to be returned

Order of return of Title IV funds

1. Unsubsidized U.S. Direct Loans
2. Subsidized U.S. Direct Loans
3. Parent Plus for undergraduate students
4. Graduate Plus for graduate students

Loans must be repaid by the borrower (student/parent) as outlined in the term of the borrower’s Master Promissory Note (MPN).

The University of Ottawa and you may be required to return any unearned U.S. federal aid received. The University may be required to return funds on your behalf by withdrawing funding credited automatically to your uOttawa statement of account.

If the amount of the loan funds you must return exceeds any credit on your account, you’ll owe the funds to the university. You should repay the outstanding amount to the University of Ottawa as soon as possible. If there’s a credit balance on the student account owed to you, this must be disbursed to you no later than 14 days after the calculation of the R2T4.

The Financial Aid and Awards Service will send a notice to your uOttawa email address indicating the type and amount of aid returned to the U.S. Department of Education on your behalf. A note will be placed in your file with detailed information regarding the calculation and the Title IV fund return.

You may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement if all the earned loan funds have not yet been paid to you by your withdrawal date. You’ll receive a notification email regarding your eligibility for a post-withdrawal disbursement within 30 days of the date that the Financial Aid and Awards Service determines that you’ve officially withdrawn. You’ll have 14 days from the date of the notification to respond in writing that you accept or decline all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement.

If you accept the post-withdrawal disbursement, the funds will be disbursed to your account within 180 days form the date of withdrawal. If you don’t respond within the 14 days, the University won’t issue any post-withdrawal disbursement.

Recipients of U.S. Direct loan funding who graduate, drop below half-time enrolment or are leaving school must complete exit counselling. The point of exit counselling is to ensure that you understand your loan obligations and are prepared for the repayment period. You’ll learn about your federal student loan payments will look like after you stop or complete your studies and review recommended repayment strategies that best suit your future plans and goals.