Loan Disbursement Arrangements
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After the successful submission of the full set of duly completed loan documents and other required supporting documents, the NLSFT loan will be disbursed directly to the respective institutions by instalment(s) to settle the tuition fees in accordance with the loan disbursement options, i.e. Head (H) or Tail (T) as specified in the "Student, Indemnifier and Witness Details Input Form (Form A)". The chosen loan disbursement option will remain effective for the whole academic year in question, regardless of any subsequent revision of the NLSFT loan offer.
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Under all circumstances, NLSFT loan will only be disbursed directly to respective institutions for settling the tuition fees. If applicants have already paid part / all of their tuition fees to respective institutions before the disbursement of their NLSFT loan, the Student Finance Office (SFO) will neither adjust the amount of the NLSFT loan to be disbursed to respective institutions nor disburse any NLSFT loan to applicants’ bank accounts.
It is the applicants’ own responsibility to liaise with respective institutions for the necessary refund arrangement on the extra tuition fee they have paid. The SFO will not bear any responsibility arising therefrom. -
The disbursement dates are the NLSFT loan drawdown dates which are set by the SFO. Under normal circumstances, disbursement will not be made earlier than the due dates of tuition fee instalments.
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After the disbursement of the NLSFT loan to respective institutions has been arranged, the SFO will issue a Remittance Advice to loan borrowers stipulating the NLSFT loan disbursement date and loan amount to be disbursed for reference. The disbursement date stipulated in the Remittance Advice is the loan drawdown date of the specified NLSFT loan.
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If respective institutions, for any reason, postpone the tuition fee instalment due dates to other later dates and then inform the SFO of such after the disbursement of NLSFT loan has already been arranged, the SFO will be unable to withhold / re-arrange the concerned disbursement.
Under such circumstances, the SFO will continue the disbursement to respective institutions on the tuition fee instalment due dates originally as set by respective institutions, which will be the NLSFT loan drawdown dates. The SFO will not bear the responsibility for any loss caused to applicants due to respective institutions’ decision to postpone the tuition fee instalment due dates. -
Neither the application nor the approval for an NLSFT loan carries any implication that the payment due date of tuition fee has been or will be deferred automatically by institutions. If the disbursement of the NLSFT loan to respective institutions for any instalment cannot be made on or before the tuition fee instalment due date, it is the applicants’ own responsibility to liaise with the institutions in respect of the tuition fee payment. The SFO will not bear the responsibility for any loss caused to applicants due to late settlement of tuition fee.
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Under normal circumstances, the demand note issued to applicants by respective institutions should specify the balance of their tuition fees for settlement on or before the due dates, which is the difference between the full tuition fee instalment (including student union fee and other miscellaneous charges, if any) and the amount of NLSFT loan applicants have accepted for that instalment. If the demand note does not show any adjustment following the acceptance of the NLSFT loan, applicants should immediately seek clarification from respective institutions on the amount.
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The application, acceptance and disbursement of NLSFT loan should serve the purpose of settling the tuition fees. If applicants submit the loan documents to accept the NLSFT loan approaching the end of the respective academic year, they have to liaise with respective institutions first and obtain institutions’ agreement, no matter applicants have paid their tuition fees or not, and notify the SFO in writing that respective institutions have guaranteed to receive the NLSFT loan. Otherwise, the SFO reserves the right not to accept their loan documents. In any case, the SFO reserves the right not to accept loan documents submitted after 30 June 2025 since the respective academic year should normally be over, unless the "NLSFT Notification of Result" or the "TSFS Notification of Result" is issued within the immediate past two calendar months, or the "Notification of Adjusted Result of Application for Financial Assistance" is issued within the immediate past four weeks.