Northumbria University speeds US loan student disbursements

The Challenge

Slowed down by manual processes

Northumbria University is a research-intensive university based in Newcastle upon Tyne that attracts students from 137 countries and collaborates globally with higher education institutions. Founded in 1880, Northumbria is ranked in the UK’s top 25 for research power and graduate employment.

The university has approximately 100 students from the USA studying on its campus every year. Most of these students fund their education and living expenses through US loan programs such as Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Sallie Mae.

“We used to rely entirely on manual processes for managing US loan disbursements,” explains Chris Morgan, Student Case Worker (Funding), Northumbria University. “From collecting student bank details on paper forms to manually calculating and disbursing different loan amounts to individual bank accounts.

“These processes were susceptible to human error and data security concerns, not to mention we weren’t able to disburse funds as fast as we wanted. This caused challenges with FAFSA loans in particular, because they mandate that students must receive funds within 14 days.”

Another challenge Northumbria faced was managing currency conversion for these transactions to ensure both the university and the students understood how much they were receiving.

When the university began attracting an increased number of students from the USA through a football program, Chris knew the team needed a more streamlined way to manage its US loan disbursements.

The Solution

Convera’s US Loans Disbursement Platform

Northumbria University was already familiar with Convera, relying on its GlobalPay for Students platform to manage incoming international tuition and fee payments, and using its outgoing payments platform to pay overseas vendors, suppliers, and staff.

“I took our challenge to the Convera team, and they were instantly able to introduce me to their US Loans Platform,” says Chris. “I was impressed by the fact that it was developed in partnership with UK universities and the US Department of Education, ensuring compliance with the full range of US loans disbursement requirements.”

Launched in 2010, Convera’s US Loans Disbursement Platform reduces administrative burdens by empowering students to log in via personalized links and two-factor authentication to manage their own bank account information. This ensures GDPR compliant data collection aligned with G5 audit requirements.

With Convera, the university can efficiently process hundreds of loan disbursements at once using a simple, bulk file upload feature. Loans can be cost-effectively converted to GBP before a student’s fees are calculated and paid to the institution and remaining balances are sent to the student.

The Results

Funds reach students fully compliant in 24 hours

Chris says that a key advantage of Convera’s US Loans Disbursement Platform is the secure and accurate collection of student bank details. “Now that students can securely enter their own bank details into the platform, we no longer have to manually collect this data or spend time chasing down incorrect details.”

The platform also helps ensure that Northumbria is compliant with US education loans regulations and fully prepared for audits. “Every payment that comes in or out generates a confirmation note which we keep as a record of when we received funds from the US, what the FX conversion rate was, and when the loan was disbursed to the university or the student.

“These post disbursement notifications used to be managed manually by someone on my team, but now it’s largely automated which saves us time and resources. Our US loans processes are audited annually, and the Convera platform has streamlined this for us significantly,” explains Chris.

“Ultimately, Convera’s US Loans Disbursement Platform means that we can now reassure students they will receive their funds within a day of their loan reaching our bank account from the US,” Chris said.

By replacing time‑consuming manual processes with a secure, purpose‑built digital platform, Northumbria University has transformed the way it manages US loan disbursements. With greater accuracy, faster turnaround times, and confidence in regulatory compliance, the university is now able to focus less on administration and more on supporting its international students throughout their academic journey.