How we can refund your university enrolment deposit
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Most international students don't realise they can recoup their university enrolment deposit through their Prodigy Finance loan. Here's exactly how it works — and why it makes a real difference.
That deposit you paid? You may be able to get it back.
Before your first lecture. Before your student ID photo. Before you've even booked your flight — your university wants a deposit.
For most international postgraduate students, this is the first real cost of studying abroad, and it lands at the worst possible moment: before your loan funds have been sent to your school, before you've set up a local bank account, and often before you've had a chance to catch your breath after receiving your offer.
You pay it because you have to. You protect your place, confirm your enrolment, and move on. The money leaves your account, and that tends to be the end of it.
At Prodigy Finance, we think that's worth fixing. Which is why we now offer a way to help you recover that upfront cost through your loan — paid back to you as part of your living expenses, once your studies begin.
Why the deposit gap exists in the first place
Prodigy Finance loans are sent directly to your school. That's by design. It means your tuition is covered without you ever needing to transfer large sums yourself, and the funds land with your university in line with your confirmed enrolment date.
The challenge is timing. University enrolment deposits are due well before any of that happens. They're the school's way of confirming that you're coming, and they typically can't be deferred. So there's a window — sometimes weeks, sometimes months — where you're expected to have paid the deposit, but your loan hasn't arrived yet.
That window is the deposit gap. It's a cost that most students absorb quietly, writing it off as part of the process. Many don't realise there's a way to get that money back.
Introducing the deposit reimbursement option
If you're a Prodigy Finance borrower and you've already paid an enrolment deposit to your university, you can request a loan increase to cover it.
Here's how it works:
You request the increase during your loan application. The process runs through your standard application — there's no separate form, no second process to navigate.
If approved, the amount is added to your living expenses allocation. It doesn't affect your tuition portion. It sits within your living expenses, which are paid directly to you.
The funds reach you in line with your existing payment schedule, after your studies begin. Living expenses are paid to your personal bank account in your country of study, so the deposit reimbursement comes through the same route.
A few things to know upfront:
The minimum loan increase you can request to cover a deposit is USD $1,000
The reimbursable amount is capped at 50% of your tuition cost*
Approval is subject to the standard eligibility and credit criteria that apply to your loan
This is a reimbursement — not an advance. Prodigy Finance doesn't pay the deposit on your behalf before your loan is in place
*Subject to approval and cost of attendance limits set by your school.
What makes this genuinely useful
It's worth being direct about why this matters.
Enrolment deposits for international postgraduate programmes aren't small. Depending on the school and programme, they can run into thousands of dollars. For students funding their education entirely through a loan — with no local credit history, no family connections in the country of study, and limited savings — that's a meaningful hit to absorb before term even starts.
Before this option existed, that money was simply gone. A cost of doing business. Now, there's a route to recover it.
A few specific ways this changes the student experience:
It reduces the financial pressure of the pre-departure period. Knowing that your deposit can be recouped through your loan means you have one less sunk cost to factor into your pre-arrival budget.
It works within your existing loan structure. The reimbursement runs through your living expenses payments — the same funds you're already receiving to cover your day-to-day costs during your studies. There's nothing extra to set up or track.
It's plannable. You can factor the deposit reimbursement into your application from the start. If you know you'll have paid a deposit by the time your loan is processed, you can include it in your initial request rather than discovering the option later.
It's one of the few ways a student loan actively accounts for the realities of international study. Most lending products are built around domestic students with local support systems. Prodigy Finance was created for the student who doesn't have that — and this policy reflects that understanding.
The full picture: what Prodigy Finance covers
It helps to understand where the deposit reimbursement sits within your overall loan structure.
Your Prodigy Finance loan is divided into 2 components:
Tuition — sent directly to your school to cover your programme fees, in line with your confirmed enrolment.
Living expenses — paid directly to your bank account in your country of study, covering your day-to-day costs during your studies. These are paid in instalments over your study period.
The deposit reimbursement, if approved, is included within your living expenses allocation. It's paid to you as part of those scheduled payments, not as a separate or earlier transfer.
What your Prodigy Finance loan doesn't cover: the deposit paid in advance of your loan, travel costs, or visa fees. These remain costs you'll need to cover directly. The deposit reimbursement policy is specifically there to help you recover that first one.
Who can request a deposit reimbursement?
This option is available to students who:
Have an active or in-progress Prodigy Finance loan application
Have already paid an enrolment deposit to their university
Have a loan that includes a living expenses component (which depends on your school and programme)
Meet the standard eligibility and credit criteria that apply to their loan
If you're not sure whether your loan includes living expenses, or whether your school and programme qualify, you can check in your student dashboard or browse the relevant guidance in our support centre.
How to request it
The process is straightforward. During your Prodigy Finance application, you'll have the option to request a loan increase to cover a deposit you've already paid to your school. Include it at that stage, and our team will assess it as part of your overall loan.
The minimum request is USD $1,000. The maximum is up to 50% of your tuition cost, subject to your school's cost of attendance limits and our standard approval criteria.
If your application is already in progress and you haven't yet included a deposit reimbursement request, contact our team at info@prodigyfinance.com to find out whether you can still add it.
A final thought
Studying abroad is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make. The costs start earlier than most people expect, and they don't always come from obvious places. A deposit you paid months before your first lecture shouldn't be a cost you simply absorb.
Prodigy Finance was built to support international students through the full arc of funding their education — not just the headline number. The deposit reimbursement option is one small but meaningful part of that.
You've already made the commitment. The deposit proved that. Now make sure your funding plan accounts for everything you've already paid.
