US and Canadian loans

If you are a US or Canadian citizen, you may be able to take out a loan to meet your costs of study.

US federal loans

The University of Oxford is eligible to certify loan applications for the Direct Loan Program (a US federal loan scheme, available to US citizens only).

US federal loans for all students are administered by the Student Fees and Funding office. Information and advice on how to apply is available from the US loans pages.

US private loans, including Sallie Mae

We advise that you investigate US federal loans before applying for a US private student loan, as federal loans are often cheaper and most American students are eligible for them. Information and guidance on how to apply is available on the Private loans page.

The University will work with whichever private lender you decide to use, however, Sallie Mae is the only lender we are aware of that is willing to lend to students at a foreign school.

Canadian loans

Canadian students should visit the Government of Canada student loans website for information about the loans the Government of Canada offers to eligible full- and part-time post-secondary students in most provinces and territories.

If you need any loan, enrolment, tuition fee confirmation, deferment or tax forms completed, please email the University’s loans team. It is the US loans team who must complete all forms relating to Canadian loans and tax, rather than your department or college. 

If we have completed enrolment forms for your Canadian funding and you later suspend, withdraw or otherwise change status, please contact your loan provider to see if any further paperwork must be completed.

If your province or territory is not listed as designated for the University of Oxford, you will need to submit a Designation Application Form to the University’s loans team. The loans team will then submit this application on your behalf. Please note that it takes six to eight weeks for a Designation Application Form to be processed by the province and only once this has been approved can you begin your loan application.