Self-Service Financial Aid FAQ
Self-Service and Federal Loans FAQ
Incoming/Prospective Students: Please request creation of a Self-Service Account and credentials at: https://uchpublic.secure.force.com/uch_accountrequest. You will receive notice once your account is set up and will then go to: https://www.uclawsf.edu/selfservice.
Continuing Students: Please login using your Sharknet credentials at https://www.uclawsf.edu/selfservice. You may contact Helpdesk@uclawsf.edu for assistance on accessing the Self-Service portal.
All prospective and continuing students applying for financial aid and wishing to receive an offer letter must submit:
- A) 2025-2026 FAFSA
- B) The UC Law SF Supplement Form
Incoming/Prospective Student Form
*Note: The above two forms are required each year you plan to apply for federal funding
Please allow 3 to 5 business days after submission of your documents due to processing time. You may contact us directly to follow up on the status of your documents as well.
For incoming students: We recommend no later than June 1st, 2025, to provide you with enough time to complete additional required documents and for our office to process your federal loan disbursements. For continuing students: We advise submitting no later than July 31st, 2025, to prevent any delays in the disbursing of aid.
Students who do not wish to apply or are not eligible to apply for federal funding must contact the Office of Financial Aid at FinancialAid@uclawsf.edu to request their offer letter/financial aid package. Please do note that students not applying for federal funding will only see any institutional scholarships/grants offered by the university on the Financial Aid module of Self-Service. This would be information a student would already have from Letters of Admission or future scholarship notices from the college.
The Office of Financial Aid must review your declined or reduced loan figures to internally. An email notifying you that revised figures on Self-Service (reflecting your changes) and a revised offer letter is now available will be sent to you following our review. Once you receive the email, you may re-accept funds and sign your offer letter.
All scholarships/grants are auto-accepted and will post towards your tuition/fees. If you have a need-based scholarship/grant, you must meet all conditions of that award (as specified on your Letter of Admission) before the Office of Financial Aid will post it to your account.
Please email us directly at financialaid@uclawsf.edu to make changes to a previously accepted financial aid package and signed offer letter.
Please email us directly at financialaid@uclawsf.edu with your request so we may calculate this outcome and send you a revised offer to review/accept.
All students must complete one Master Promissory Note per loan they plan to borrow (note that this will only be required once during your academic program) along with Federal Loan Entrance Counseling (this counseling is required even if it was previously completed for an undergraduate or graduate/professional program at another university). These requirements will reflect accordingly on your financial aid checklist.
After logging into Self-Service portal, click on the blue “Financial Aid” link to open the drop-down menu then click on “Request a New Loan”. Enter your desired amount, select the semester(s)you’d like the funding to be applied to, then review/submit your request.
Please contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@uclawsf.edu to review potential options for increasing your student budget.
Budget or a Cost of Attendance is an aggregate breakdown of all expenses the university will charge you (Tuition/Fees) along with a blanket allocation calculated for living expenses that students can expect to incur. The budget or cost of attendance is not “one size fits all” and some students may have fewer or greater expenses. The budget on your offer letter will reflect a line-by-line breakdown of both total tuition/fees and living expenses by category.
Direct Costs: All expenses that students will be directly charged while enrolled (items such as Tuition, Activity Fee, MBE Support Fee, Health Services Fee, and the UC SHIP Premium).
Indirect Costs: Expenses which students may expect to incur as a result of attending the institution. Think Books/Supplies and Transportation but also living expenses such as housing, utilities, and groceries.
The above categories of funds are all self-reported by the student on the UC Law SF Supplement Form.
Expected Assistance: Cash assistance to be applied to tuition or living expenses and provided by a student’s parent, relative, significant other, or third-party organization.
Outside Personal Loan: A loan to be applied to tuition or living expenses and provided by a student’s parent, relative, significant other, or third-party organization. This is a personal loan between the student and the sponsor.
Private Loan: A loan a student will borrow from a bank, private loan lender, or other financial institution. These loans are provided as an alternative to federal loans backed by the U.S. Department of Education. Students apply directly with the lender for these credit-based loans. We advise you to consult with the Office of Financial Aid if you are considering borrowing a private loan in lieu of a federal loan. Outside Scholarship/Grant: A grant/scholarship that a student expects to receive from a third-party organization. This type of fund will often be sent to the institution to credit towards a student’s tuition.
Please email us at FinancialAid@uclawsf.edu so we may process your amendment.
Federal Loans FAQ
The major differences are the interest rates, amounts those loans are offered to students, and credit-based status. The Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan (Unsub Loan) will hold a lower interest rate than the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan (e.g., 8.08% vs. 9.08% after July 1, 2024, and before July 1, 2025). The Unsub Loan will be offered at a maximum $20,500 per academic year and is not a credit-based loan. The Direct Graduate PLUS Loan (PLUS Loan) will hold a higher interest rate than the Unsub Loan, is offered up to the institution’s Cost of Attendance (minus accounting for all other funding) and is a credit-based loan.
If you must borrow federal loans: We advise students to borrow their first $20,500 from the Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan (though do note that you may only borrow upwards of$10,250 in this loan during Fall). Any additional needed funds may then be funded by the Graduate PLUS Loan. Note: Some students may not be eligible for the full $20,500. We still encourage you to accept whatever you are offered in the Unsub loan first. In other words, borrow the Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan before considering the PLUS Loan.
The Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan rate is 8.08% and the Direct Graduate PLUS Loan is 9.08%. These rates are after July 1, 2024 and before July 1, 2025.
Yes, the Department of Education imposes a Loan Origination Fee for each loan disbursement. Origination fees will be as follows through October 1st, 2024:
Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan: 1.057%
Direct Graduate PLUS Loan: 4.228%
When you take out federal loans, the amount of loan money you receive is the amount you are approved to borrow, minus the Loan Original Fee. For example, if you borrow $10,000 of Graduate PLUS Loans, you will be charged a 4.228 percent Loan Origination Fee of $422. This Loan Origination Fee will be subtracted from the $10,000 you are borrowing, and you will receive $9,578 to your student account. Please note that the Department of Education requires you to pay back the full $10,000.
UC Law SF will export your loan request so that the Department of Education may run your credit inquiry as early as July 1st, 2025. If you would like to run your own credit score (though this is unnecessary), you may do so at the Graduate PLUS Loan Application.
Yes, you may borrow solely in Fall or solely in Spring. You may even borrow differing amounts per semester. Please note that accepted loan amounts for the Fall semester may not exceed 50% of your original offer. E.g.: A student may not accept more than 50% of their Direct Stafford Unsubsidized Loan Offer to be applied towards Fall (No more than $10,250).
Yes, however please contact the Financial Aid Office to determine semester or academic year-based deadlines. Please also note: Not borrowing in one academic year does not reduce your loan offers or eligibility in a future academic year.
If you would like to cancel your loans before the start of a semester, please notify the Office of Financial Aid by early August for Fall 2025 or early December for Spring 2026. If your loan has disbursed, please contact the Office of Financial Aid directly for information on how to return/cancel your loan.
Federal Loans will first arrive from the Department of Education to UC Law SF. UC Law SF will then credit your loans against all remaining tuition/fees. Any remaining excess funds will be available via direct deposit the Friday before the first day of instruction: 8/18/25 for Fall 2025 | 1/3/26 for Spring 2026. We encourage you to complete all federal loan paperwork and enroll in Direct Deposit as soon as possible to prevent a delay in receiving your living expense funds. Instructions for enrolling in direct deposit may be obtained by contacting Fiscal Services at Fiscal@uclawsf.edu.