Rights and responsibilities
By accepting your loan, you promise to accept the responsibilities that come with it.
You are also entitled to certain rights. Your government requires us to bring several things to your attention. You should know your rights and entitlements, ignorance is not accepted as an excuse for defaulting on responsibilities.
Responsibilities
This is a loan
Like all loans it has to be repaid. You cannot choose not to repay if you did not like the course, or if you failed. There is no reason or excuse for non-repayment. Your student loans are only cancelled if you die or become too disabled to hold any job. They are not discharged by bankruptcy.
Interest is charged
Interest is charged on your loan from the day the cheque is cut. Interest continues to be charged while you are in school. If you have a subsidised loan, the government is paying the interest – but only while you are in school, after that, interest is charged and at the end of your loan period, the interest so far is added to the value of the loan for repayment.
There may be penalties
If you default on any loan requirements, your lender may impose penalties. Read everything from your lender.
If you withdraw
If you withdraw from your course or take a break, then the University of Winchester will inform your lender and any ‘unspent’ part of your loan has to be immediately repaid by you. The unspent part of your loan has nothing to do with how much money you have left. The portion of the year left is the unspent portion of your loan. That is, The academic year is 30 weeks, so if you withdraw or break in week 10, then 20 weeks worth of your loan – two thirds - is unspent and has to be immediately repaid. The ‘spent’ part of the loan has to be repaid according to your repayment terms.
Your student loans are only cancelled if you die or become too disabled to hold any job. They are not discharged by bankruptcy.
You are required to …
- Use your loan for educational purposes
- Tell your lender of address changes
- Tell your lender about course changes
- Tell your lender about any changes
- Open and read your student loan mail
Rights
How much you can borrow
Stafford Loans are fixed to a maximum of $20,500 for graduates (of which $8,500 can be subsidised) and for undergraduates the subsidised loans are $3,500 (yr1); $4,500 (yr2); $5,500 (yr3).
Further Loans
You can borrow up to the Cost of Attendance (CoA) in total (including Staffords). The University of Winchester publishes a CoA on the web. The university may not authorise or certify more than the CoA. Although each student is different, costs should be broadly in line with the published CoA. Remember the loan is for education and no more. If you believe your CoA needs to be higher, then you must prove and justify this to the Fees Manager.
You have the right to …
- Prepay your loan early without penalty
- A deferment on previous loans
- Written information of obligations
- Explanation of default consequences
- Be notified if your loan is sold
Deferments
You have the right to defer your previous loans while still in school. Get a deferment form from your lender and have it certified by the Student Recruitment Office.