US Federal Aid

US Federal Aid Offer and Application Deadlines

To receive a Financial Aid offer from JCU, you must have received an Offer Letter from our Admissions office, and for a program which is eligible for US Federal Aid (see Program Eligibility section), and have completed a FAFSA for the correct loan period (with the JCU school code), and be deemed an eligible student (see Student Eligibility section).

If you do not receive a financial aid offer within the timeframe specified below, or you complete your FAFSA after (or close to) the application deadline, please contact financialaid@jcu.edu.au

If you have received a financial aid offer, please ensure you accept your offer before the deadline. If a deadline is missed, this will impact the disbursement period in which your loans will be released.

To accept your financial aid offer, you must complete ALL steps:

• Entrance counselling
• Master Promissory Note/s (both Sub/Unsub and PLUS, if applicable)
• JCU Loan Agreement)

Once you have accepted your financial aid offer,  you will receive an email when the loan disbursement is due.  It is a requirement that you complete disbursement authority and provide bank account information (if applicable) BEFORE the disbursement can proceed - it will not happen automatically.  A face-to-face meeting with the financial aid administrator is usually required to complete a disbursement authority.

Please note that your loan will be disbursed within distinct processing periods that are not continuous throughout the year.  Check your JCU email for disbursement notifications to ensure you don't miss out.  If you do miss a disbursement period, your disbursement will not occur until the next available period.

Disbursement periods are occasionally adjusted to align with system outages and staff availability.

Please note , each financial aid offer is issued for a maximum of 12 months.  If you are a continuing student, please remember that your loan will expire at the end of the loan period stated on your JCU Loan Participation Agreement. To qualify for further loan disbursements, you must reapply with a current FAFSA and meet all stipulated deadlines above.

To be eligible for US Federal Student Aid, you must meet a range of criteria as stipulated by the US Department of Education.

General Criteria

• Be enrolled at least half time in an eligible program. 'Half time' is defined as at least 6 credit points in the main semester-long study periods (eg Study Period 1 & 2)
• Be enrolled internally at Townsville or Cairns campuses, and not be undertaking external (online) subjects
• Understand the University’s satisfactory academic progress and maximum time frame stipulations
• Be a citizen or eligible non-citizen of the United States
• Not be in default on an education loan or education grant
• Not owe a refund on any Title IV funding
• Not have been convicted of any offence under US law involving the sale or possession of a controlled substance while receiving Title IV funding
• File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) entering JCU’s school code G12206 for the relevant loan period
• For PLUS loans, the borrower must also pass credit checks
• Comply with requests for documentation if selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education and relevant Federal legislation
• To be eligible you must also submit all documentation required by James Cook University to verify your eligibility and determine your financial need.

Academic Criteria

To receive Title IV funds, you must be qualified to study at the postsecondary level. To qualify, you must have:

• a high school diploma (or foreign equivalent); or
• the recognised equivalent such as a general educational development (GED) certificate or other state sanctioned test or diploma-equivalency certificate; or
• completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law; or
• completed secondary school education in a homeschool setting which qualifies for an exemption from compulsory attendance requirements under state law, if state law does not require a home schooled student to receive a credential for their education; or
• completed one of the ability-to-benefit (ATB) alternatives and is either currently enrolled in an eligible career pathway program or first enrolled in an eligible postsecondary program prior to July 1,  2012.

The JCU Admissions office will assess your application to study in accordance with the admissions and associated procedures, however the financial aid office may conduct additional validity checks to ensure academic eligibility for US Federal Student Aid is also met.

To be eligible for US Federal Student Aid, the program you wish to study also must be an eligible program.  Many programs are eligible provided they meet the following criteria:

• An internal program (on campus)
• A Bachelor, Master or Doctorate program
• Have no external (online) compulsory subjects
• Do not fall into the ineligible list below

Programs that are ineligible for US Federal Aid include:

• Study Abroad (6 month/12 month length programs) and Exchange. Students may still be eligible through the Financial Aid office at their US school
• Bachelor of Dental Surgery
• Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery
• Bachelor of Nursing Science
• Bachelor of Veterinary Science
• All Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma programs
• All Undergraduate Foundation, Certificate and Diploma programs
• Any program undertaken in online/distance-study mode
• Any program containing compulsory (core) subjects which are only available in online attendance mode (eg external and/or in some cases mixed mode).  For example, some of the programs that may fall into this category include* 
  • Master of Education
  • Master of Public Health
  • Master of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
  • Master of Social Work (Professional Qualifying)

* This list is not conclusive and program eligibility may need to be confirmed in conjunction with the course coordinator, and based on the subject delivery information available at the time of application.

The US Department of Education prohibits foreign schools from administering US Federal Aid for programs (degrees) which include teaching by telecommunications methods (online). This means that any program that cannot be completed entirely through an attendance mode that includes traditional face-to-face teaching will be ineligible, or could become ineligible.

Some subjects (classes) are taught entirely, or primarily, by telecommunications methods (using online teaching and learning methods). At JCU this is called 'external' and in some cases, 'mixed mode' attendance. In many cases, a subject will have multiple attendance options so it will simply be a case of not choosing the ineligible option. However in some cases, external or mixed mode attendance may be the only option and you may need to select a different subject.

If a program contains any core (compulsory) subjects which are only offered in an external attendance mode, the entire program will be ineligible. If you do undertake an external subject after initially commencing a program that was eligible for US Federal Aid, the program will subsequently become ineligible and your federal funding will be cancelled.  It will be your responsibility to ensure, prior to accepting an offer to study at JCU, that you can complete the program and select the subjects that are of most interest to you, without being constrained by the online subject limitation.

Internal and intensive attendance modes are acceptable for the purposes of US Federal Aid. As are other non-online learning methods such as placement and research. To check whether your chosen program contains online attendance mode subjects, please refer to the subject listing in the course handbook or contact the Financial Aid office.  Course handbooks can be found under each course outline. In some cases, you may also need to contact the course coordinator directly.

Important Notes: 

• Programs (eg your degree) can be offered by internal or external (distance) study mode. Internal means you will come to Australia, usually on a Student Visa, to undertake your course.  External means you can study from anywhere in the world and will undertake your course online.
• Subjects (eg classes) can be available in a number of attendance modes depending on the course structure. More information about subject attendance modes can be found under enrolment terminology on our website.  Internal programs CAN include online attendance subjects.
• External & Mixed Mode attendance :
  • External - wholly online learning, therefore definitely ineligible
  • Mixed Mode - partially online. In some cases this option will be eligible provided online is not the primary teaching method used. If there is a mixed mode attendance subject offered, please seek further advice from financialaid@jcu.edu.au before enrolling in the subject

James Cook University will estimate your “Cost of Attendance” (CoA) for the relevant loan period based on the regulations established by the US Department of Education.  JCU will also advise you of your eligibility for each loan type, however the total amount of loans you can borrow will not exceed the total CoA.

You will find general information on cost of living on the JCU website however the CoA that is determined by the JCU Financial Aid Administrator can vary due to both exchange rate fluctuations and the US Department of Education regulatory limitations.

James Cook University will estimate your CoA firstly in Australian dollars and subsequently convert to US dollars using the current exchange rate at that time. The USD amount will appear on your JCU Financial Aid Offer. Subsequently, upon disbursement of the loan amounts to the University the funds are converted again, this time from USD to AUD.

The two conversion points as explained above may result in variances to the loan amount due to exchange rate fluctuations between the USD and AUD. As the two conversions above occur at different points during the year, each conversion will result in a rate risk due to movement in the USD/AUD exchange rate. It is the borrower’s responsibility to understand and accept this risk as part of studying at James Cook University and borrowing US Financial Aid. The University is unable to set any exchange rates.

The typical scenario for students borrowing US Federal Aid is as follows:

Pre-arrival

• JCU offer to study is issued, followed by the financial aid offer
• Students accept  their study offer, making an upfront down payment*, and a COE is issued  (to apply for a Student Visa)
• Students accept their financial aid offer (*if conditions are met, eligible students can pay a reduced upfront down payment)

After arrival

• Students will be required to meet with the financial aid advisor who will explain the process is detail, further paperwork will be completed, and (if applicable) you will provide bank account details for any refunds
• Loan disbursement will only occur once you have completed the above step - which is usually done at the beginning of each main study period.  Loans usually have a  1  year loan period, and the disbursements will be released in equal portions  at the start of each study period.
• JCU will receive loan funds from the US Department of Education, pay any school fees (tuition & SSAF) due for the study period, and pay any credit balance remaining into your bank account.
• The credit balance you receive can then be used to pay other fees  such as accommodation, however you will need to pay these independently (eg JCU cannot transfer money to the accommodation office).
• The process will be repeated each  study period where you have an active loan.