Advance Loans for Academic Student Employees (ASEs) and Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs)

Salary earned through employment as an ASE (includes TA titles) and GSR are paid monthly following the service month. For those hired in Fall as an ASE or GSR, your first employment check will not pay until November 1. However, you may opt to apply for an ASE/GSR Advance Loan, which is an interest-free advance loan equal to 50% of your monthly rate. The advance loan is repaid via automatic payroll deductions in two equal installments from your second and third paycheck of the quarter. Note: This is not an emergency loan.

To apply for an advance loan:

1 – Verify that you are eligible

  • Your ASE/GSR hire has been processed by the UCPath Center and is active in UCPath for the application quarter
  • Minimum 25% appointment
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA (for continuing students)
  • Registered and enrolled in at least 12 units for the application quarter
  • Does not have an unpaid advance loan from preceding quarters
  • Have a signed ASE/GSR offer letter
  • Received authorization from the department and the Division of Humanities for total employment appointments over 50% (and DGE exception request approval for total appointments over 75%)
    • International students must also have approval from the Dashew Center to work over 50%
  • Enrolled in direct deposit in UCPath: Employee Actions > Income and Taxes > Direct Deposit. Advance loans will not be issued as physical checks.
    • Please note that UCPath Direct Deposit is not the same as BruinDirect. These systems do not link, so being enrolled in BruinDirect does not automatically enroll you in UCPath’s Direct Deposit for your salary and the ASE/GSR Advance Loan.
    • Students who are new hires will not be able to access UCPath until their employment start date. For Fall ASE/GSR hires, the start date is October 1. As the advance loan requires enrollment in direct deposit, the advance loan will likely not be processed and issued until after the start date.
    • Continuing students who have been rehired (at least one day gap between the last employment’s end date and the next employment’s start date) will likely not be able to update direct deposit information or re-enroll until their start date. For continuing students who were anticipated to continue TA employment in the Fall, it is likely that the Department placed your TA position on a short work break, thus avoiding the rehire process. If you are not sure of your status, please contact the Graduate SAO.
  • First year graduate students that meet the above criteria are eligible

2 – Prepare the Advance Loan Authorization Form

  1. Visit DGE’s ASE/GSR Advance Loan Authorization page to view the application period and download the form.
  2. As the loan amount that will appear is based on a specific year’s salary rates, please check that the deadlines on the form are within the appropriate academic year.
    1. If the dates on the form are from last academic year, do not proceed. If it is mid-September and you are unsure if the form is updated or if your browser if pulling an old version, please ask the Graduate SAO.
    2. If the dates on the form reflect the current academic year, proceed to #3.
  3. Fill out the top portion of the form. Do not sign.
    1. Please reference your ASE/GSR offer letter for your position title and percent-time.
    2. If you do not know your Employee ID number, you may retrieve it by logging into the UCPath Portal. The number is below your name at the left navigation menu.
    3. Students who are new hires will not be able to logon to the UCPath Portal until their employment start date and thus will not be able to retrieve their Employee ID number. Please leave this section blank. If the UCPath Center processed your hire by the time you submit the form to the Graduate SAO, the Graduate SAO will enter the number for you.
  4. Review the “Promissory Note” section on the form.
  5. Send the unsigned form to the Graduate SAO at least 5 business days before the quarter’s application close date. [Please send a Winter 2025 application before or by December 3, 2024.]
    1. The Graduate SAO will gather the necessary documents and will send the form and documents for you to sign in DocuSign. The required documents are: (1) Signed ASE/GSR offer letter, (2) quarterly supplemental letter [TAs only], (3) completed documents authorizing employment over 50%-time if applicable.
  6. The Graduate SAO will send a follow-up message when the form and documents have been set up in DocuSign. To ensure on-time submission to DGE by the Graduate SAO, please sign the form as soon as possible after you receive the DocuSign and no later than 10AM Pacific Time of the quarter’s application close date. [Please sign the Winter 2025 application before or by December 10, 2024, 10AM PT.]
  7. After you sign, the Graduate SAO will complete the hiring department section and will submit the form and required documents to DGE.

Advance loan processing is done by multiple offices. As such, it could take 2 weeks or more for disbursement.

After DGE approval, double check that your following paychecks have been deducted appropriately to pay back the loan. Failure to pay back the loan will result in ineligibility to receive a loan in future quarters.

If you have questions regarding the process or your application itself, please contact DGE’s Fellowships and Financial Services Office at askgrad@grad.ucla.edu.