There ARE private student loans, but you have to be a student at a qualified institution to get one. You said you are not matriculating at this school, just taking classes. If it isn’t a qualified student loan, it is just an unsecured loan and banks and credit unions are no longer allowed to just lend in any way they want. The Dodd-Frank act requires repayment schedules and income to debt ratios to be followed. There is no way a non-student loan can have a delayed repayment schedule of 4-5 years.
If you’ve got it all set up as a student loan, good for you. Your original question was could you use US govt financial aid at a foreign school. You can if it is qualified. If it isn’t qualified for federal aid, it’s not going to qualify as a student loan from a private lender either. Have you applied for the loan yet, and have you provided all the school’s qualifications to the credit union? Again, if so, good for you.
But it is still too much money to borrow to not have those credit count toward a college degree. $100k is an insane amount to borrow for an undergrad degree. You will NEVER pay it off in 5 years. The payments on a $50k loan @4% interest on a 20 year repayment plan are about $260/mo. TWENTY years. If paying on the normal 10 year repayment plan the monthly payment would be almost $500/mo. Ask how many PARENTS on CC could just pay that every month without it hurting. (answer, none)