Skip to main content

Cost of Attendance

Eligible US students can finance their education through both federal and private student loans.

Cost of Attendance

The Cost of Attendance (COA) is your student budget (educational expenses). Your budget is the estimated average and reasonable cost of completing an academic year at UAL. UAL bases your COA on the average costs for students with the same enrolment status rather than your actual expenses.

The COA includes:

  • tuition fees
  • allowances for books, course materials, supplies, and equipment
  • housing and food allowance (or living expenses)
  • transportation (including airfares)
  • loan fees (excluding any loan fees for non-federal student loans)
  • miscellaneous personal expenses (including a reasonable amount for a personal computer)
  • allowance for childcare or other dependent care
  • costs related to a disability
  • visa and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) expenses
  • costs of obtaining a license, certification, or a first professional credential.

You may borrow up to the COA set by the school. However, you are not required to take the total COA allowance and only borrow what you need to meet your educational needs.

Cost of attendance examples:

Undergraduate Dependent Students - COA Example (PDF 85KB)

Undergraduate Dependent Students - COA Example (PDF 85KB)

Postgraduate  Students  - COA Example (PDF 85KB)

Special Circumstances

UAL recognises that some students may have special circumstances. The Student Funding Service can adjust the COA for students with special circumstances on a case-by-case basis and in line with UAL’s US Loans Professional Judgement policy (Word 80KB).

If you think this may apply to you, please contact uscanadaloans@arts.ac.uk and provide any additional information, as necessary, about your financial status or personal circumstances as they relate to your special circumstances.

The law gives some examples of special circumstances that may be considered (HEA Sec. 479A); however, this is not an exhaustive list:

  • change in employment status, income, or assets
  • change in housing status (e.g., homelessness)
  • tuition expenses at an elementary or secondary school
  • medical, dental, or nursing home expenses not covered by insurance
  • child or dependent care expenses
  • severe disability of the student or other student household member
  • other changes or adjustments that impact the student’s costs or ability to pay for college.

Can I Cancel my Loan?

You can cancel all or a portion of a loan within specific timeframes.

  • You can cancel all or part of a loan by notifying the Student Funding Service at uscanadaloans@arts.ac.uk financial aid office before your loan is disbursed (paid out).
  • If we have already paid your loan, you can return some or all of the loan money to your servicer.

You won’t need to pay interest or fees on any portion of a loan cancelled within 120 days of the disbursement date. You can return loan funds to your servicer more than 120 days after disbursement, but the servicer will process this return as a pre-payment on the loan, and you’ll be charged interest and a loan fee on the amount you return.

You may incur currency exchange fees when converting your loan back to USD before returning the funds to your loan servicer.

You can learn about what loan servicers do and find your loan servicer by visiting your My Aid page.

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)

All students applying for a visa for more than 6 months will need to pay the HIS in addition to the visa application fee. The exact amount you pay depends on the length of your visa. The IHS entitles you to NHS hospital treatment at no additional cost in the UK on the same basis as someone who is ordinarily resident (except for NHS-funded assisted conception services in England). You can access treatment from the start date of your visa until it expires.

For more information, please visit the Immigration and Visas pages.

Tuition Fees

UAL publishes program tuition fees on the Tuition Fees page.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate

Your COA is calculated in GBP and then converted to USD using the projected exchange rate set and reviewed by UAL each academic year.

The exchange rate we use in your COA might differ from the one available at your loan disbursement.

UAL works with Convera, which provides foreign currency exchange and secure online payment services. The foreign currency exchange rates fluctuate daily and are out of UAL’s control.

Contact us

Student Funding Service
uscanadaloans@arts.ac.uk