After You Apply

Track Your Portals

After you apply, the most important thing you can do is keep an eye on your application portals. For Alberta borrowers, this will be the Alberta Student Aid portal (see ‘Create Your Student Loan Accounts’ section). If there are issues with your student loan or any outstanding documents that need to be completed, you will be notified digitally through your loan portal.

Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement (MSFAA)/Alberta Student Aid Agreement

If it is your first time applying for a full-time student loan, most provincial / territorial student loan programs will require that you complete a loan agreement. 

Alberta student loan borrowers will need to complete the Alberta Student Aid Agreement. If you are receiving both Canada and Alberta funding, you will need to complete the Alberta Student Aid Agreement and a Canada Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement (you can determine what types of loan you are receiving by keeping an eye on your Alberta Student Loan portal inbox for your Student Award letter). You will receive an email when the agreements are available in your Alberta Student Aid inbox, along with instructions on how to complete them. Your loan will not be disbursed until you have completed these agreements.

Disbursement of Funds

In most cases, you will receive your funds approximately 10 business days after your MSFAA/Loan Agreement has been processed. You can find more information about when your funding will be disbursed on your Student Award letter in your Alberta Student Aid inbox. Please note, the dates in this letter are an estimate only so you may not receive your funding on that exact date.

Typically, 50% of your loan amount will be disbursed at the beginning of your academic year and 50% halfway through the academic year. For most students, this means you will receive half of your funding in the first weeks of September, and the second half in the first weeks of January.

Your funds may first be applied to your tuition and fees, with any remaining funds deposited into your bank account. Student loan and grant funding sent to the University of Alberta will only be used towards tuition and fees and never to automatically pay your book costs, residence, library, or other fees. If your loans do not fully cover your tuition and fees, you are responsible for paying the remaining balance. Keep an eye on your tuition account in Bear Tracks and your personal bank account for the funds to arrive.

Once your student loan has been assessed and confirmed, you will be able to see how much of your student loan/grant is going towards your tuition by doing the following:

1. Log into your Alberta Student Aid account
2. Click on the application for the current student loan year
3. Click on Payment Schedule
4. Near the bottom of the Payment Schedule, you will see "Tuition Remittance Requested by Educational Institution." Under this, you may see a dollar amount on the right-hand side with the amount that will be sent to your current semester of outstanding tuition.

Adjusting Your Registration Status - Dropping from full-time studies

There will be impacts on your full-time student loan if you need to drop from full-time to part-time studies or withdraw completely. Please visit the Full-time vs. Part-time section of our website for more information on how to tell if you are full-time or part-time. If you are dropping a course, but will remain full-time (for example, if you drop from 15 credits to 12 credits in a term), there is no impact on your student loan and no action you need to take.

The impact on your student loans will depend on a few factors including, when you decide to drop from full-time. It is best to chat directly with the Student Service Centre to understand the impact this will have on your student loan, but a brief summary of the possible implications might be:

• If you drop from full-time studies in the first 30 days of the term, the University of Alberta will report this to Alberta Student Aid. Your loan will be cancelled and you will be required to pay back your student loan before you can apply for student loan funding again in the future. Your grant funding will be converted to loans.
• If you drop from full-time studies after the first 30 days of the term, you will not need to pay funding back, but if you drop from full-time studies again while on student loans, you will be restricted from applying for future funding for 18 months.

All of your previous student loans will be placed in repayment status the day that you drop from full-time studies. Please chat with the Student Service Centre for more information on next steps.

While dropping from full-time studies will impact your student loan, you should always make the decision that is best for your health, mental health, family and academics. Talking to the Student Service Centre, your faculty and the office of Student Success and Experience can help you make this decision.

Repaying Your Student Loan After You Have Dropped From Full-Time Studies

If you have dropped from full-time studies or withdrawn completely you will be required to pay back your student loan before you can apply for funding again in the future.

If you apply for a new student loan, but have not yet paid back all of your previous loans, Alberta Student Aid will provide you a letter with details on how much you will need to repay and to which funding source.

If student loan funding was sent to your tuition account and you withdrew after the refund deadline, that portion of your student loan will not be refunded by the University of Alberta. However, we can provide you with a letter that will describe the amount remaining on your tuition account. Please contact the Student Service Centre for more information.