Appealing USC financial aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am a transfer student recently admitted to Viterbi Chemical Engineering. My EFC is 1000 and my parent's EFC is 0. I was also accepted to UCLA under my secondary major Chemistry.</p>

<p>At UCLA, my net cost came to around $7000, which minus the loans gave my a contribution of $1,000, affordable with my savings. However, UCLA did not admit me in engineering, and there is why I would much prefer to attend USC. (Job security with chemical engineering vs chemistry is a very important deal to me as I want to be employed! So those telling me to go to UCLA and suck it up with a chemistry degree, please do not comment. The job security at the undergrad level is extremely significant and I need to save money before even considering graduate school. No I cannot transfer into engineering at UCLA. I have already asked. )</p>

<p>USC offered a net cost of $14,000, double what UCLA offered. Is it reasonable to ask USC to adjust my financial aid to hit close to where UCLA is? Specifically, I was hoping for more gift aid as because I am already employed, I cannot work on campus. I tried holding down two jobs before but it effected by grades negatively. Thanks so much for your help!</p>

2

<p>USC is a private university that costs more than double what UCLA costs for instate students. Are you asking USC to being your net cost down to that of UCLA? If so, I think that is unlikely. </p>

<p>So I guess this means USC does not meet full need for transfer students.</p>

<p>Also, curious…what do you mean “my EFC is $1000 and my parents is $0”.</p>

3

<p>Hello, This was based on the FAFSA. I simply wrote what the e-mail told me, and what UCLA listed on my financial aid. I had more income than my parents last year. So, my EFC was calculated to 1000 and my parents was 0. I hope that makes sense. The reason I applied to USC was because they did tell me that they meet full need even for transfer students. Is it worth it to call and ask about my options? </p>

4

<p>No harm to ask for more aid. I think USC also require you to file CSS/PROFILE which may calculate your EFC to be higher.</p>

<p>If USC says no, how you pay for the net cost of $14,000 or $11,000?</p>

5

<p>Well, from working and paying for all my expenses as well as many bills around the house, I was able to save $3000 for tuition, that brings it down to $11,000. This is already including the federal loans, hence why I really would like to ask for more gift aid.</p>

6

<p>USC requires the Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Are you a CA resident eligible for the Calgrant? Did you apply for that as well?</p>

<p>For USC, the ONLY thing the FAFSA does is determine your eligibility for the Pell Grant. If your FAFSA EFC was $0, you would get $5600 or so in Pell funds. If EFC is $1000, you would get $4600. </p>

<p>Honestly, I still don’t understand what you mean by these TWO EFC amounts. When you and your parents complete a FAFSA, it generates ONE EFC…was yours $0 or $1000?</p>

<p>Regardless…for institutional aid, USC uses the Profile. Did you and your parents complete THAT, and submit it on time?</p>

7

<p>I did submit the CSS profile on time and I did get Pell Grants as well as Cal Grants. After calling USC Financial Aid, they noticed that they did not take into account that my father’s income was foreign income. Instead they treated it as untaxed income, which it is not since it is taxed in Japan. They advised me to submit an appeal so they can re-evaluate my financial aid with this new knowledge</p>

<p>As for EFC, once again, I am looking at my UCLA award and it simply states parent’s EFC-0 Students EFC-1000 so I don’t know what else to tell you. </p>

8

<p>How much was your Pell Grant for the year?</p>

<p>Get the info USC requested to USC as soon as possible. </p>

<p>Just an FYI…it sounds like your parents are separated. Is that correct? If so, your FAFSA EFC could very well be $0, with a full Pell Grant in place. BUT using your dad’s income and assets from the Profile, you could well have a higher computed family contribution for USC.</p>

9

<p>Appealing is the smart move. The worst they can do is say “sorry, but, no.” </p>

10

<p>USC meets USC-determined need for all domestic undergraduates who submit the CSS/Profile, the FAFSA, tax return information and other requested documents. To answer other posters’ questions, the UC’s come up with a “parent contribution” and a “student contribution” on their aid awards - OP, UCLA’s award statement has absolutely NOTHING to do with USC’s financial aid calculations.</p>

<p>USC uses the FAFSA to distribute federal aid, including Pell Grants, Stafford loans, Perkins loans and Federal work/study. Those items, at most, add up to $12,000-$14,000. USC’s cost of attendance is approximately $64,000. </p>

<p>CalGrants are distributed by the California Student Aid Commission. USC incorporates them into financial aid packages, however USC does not leave a “CalGrant sized hole” in packages for students who do not qualify for CalGrant - USC meets USC-determined need regardless.</p>

<p>USC uses the CSS/Profile to determine USC-determined need and to distribute USC grants, which comprise the bulk of USC aid. The CSS/Profile considers assets the FAFSA does not, including home equity, so the amount you are expected to contribute at USC will likely differ from your FAFSA EFC (and by “differ,” I mean it will likely be more).</p>

<p>Please note that it appears this student has been awarded gift aid in the range of $50,000 or more of USC’s own funds.</p>

<p>Yes, you can appeal, however if there were no errors and you have no special circumstances any adjustment would likely be small. Even a small adjustment is always helpful, so do appeal - the worst they can do is say, “no.” </p>

<p>Strategies to pay the $11,000 (yes, USC expects that you use all of your summer earnings toward college expenses - their summer earnings expectation is approximately $3,000):</p>

<ul>
<li>Choose a less-expensive housing option. Your aid is distributed based on a housing cost estimate and will not be adjusted down if you manage to find a less-expensive option. Choosing a less-than-luxurious apartment (okay… crappy) and eating very cheaply (shopping and cooking for yourself rather than a meal plan or fast food) can save a big chunk of money.</li>
</ul>

<p>-Get your insurance information from your parents and have the mandatory health insurance waived. As discussed in an earlier thread, USC’s health insurance is not covered by financial aid at this time, so that would be an ADDITIONAL ~$2,000/year if you do not have it waived.</p>

<p>-Buy used books online. Use the ISBN numbers available in the course catalog to be sure you get the correct edition. You can save as much as half over the USC bookstore.</p>

<p>-Work during the school year. You should be able to work 15 hours a week without negative effect on your grades if you stay organized. Working off-campus is fine - you do not have to use work/study if you have a better-paying job off campus, however, work/study employers are much more sensitive to scheduling issues and changes at finals time.</p>

<p>-Sign up for the payment plan if you will be unable to pay billed costs at the start of the semester and must use earnings. It appears to me that your tuition is covered by your grants, so it may be that you will not have billed costs very much in excess of your grants - you may not have to worry.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

11

<p>@NROTCgrad‌ Like I said, I was accepted at UCLA for chemistry, not chemical engineering and I have no option to transfer into the college because I am a transfer student. The difference in chemistry and chemical engineering in terms of job security and starting salary is extremely large, hence my desire to go into chemical engineering. I do love both subjects, but I would rather have job security. </p>

12

<p>@alamemom‌ Thank you for your advice, but I have already exhausted all the options you listed. I work 20 hours a week during the school year, and I will be working an internship (at USC) for $3580 this year. The problem is I need to support my mother, my sister and my tuition on my wages, which after paying for food and utilities, does not go far. I commute from home, so there is no way to decrease the cost there. I apologize if I came off as rude, but I have already been living as you say. My tuition is not covered by my grants. The grants have already been applied. </p>

13

<p>Sorry, I missed that part.</p>

14

<p>@NROTCgrad‌ :slight_smile: No problem! But I just wanted to justify why I am still considering USC over UCLA despite the given costs. Good news is the financial aid officer I spoke to said I have an excellent chance of decreasing my parent’s expected contribution from $9200 to much lower. I can afford my own contribution of $4682 that they calculated, just not their portion of $9200 which they cannot afford either. </p>

15

<p>I didn’t think you sounded rude. If you did I would not have provided an extensive answer to your question. The grants are applied to tuition, so yes, your grants are going toward tuition.</p>

16

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<p>What does this mean?</p>

17

<p>@thumper1‌ I had misunderstood alamemom’s statement that my grants would cover my tuition. I thought she meant that my grants would pay for the remainder of my net cost, which it is not. The grants were already subtracted from the grand total tuition cost to give me my net cost. Thanks!</p>

18

<p>Also, my gift aid was $14,000. Not $50,000. </p>

19

<p>So…you have $14,000 in gift aid from USC. How much Pell and Calgrant did you get?</p>

20

<p>USC will bill for tuition, some fees, the health insurance (unless waived) and USC-housing. The other expenses (living expenses, food, books, transportation, etc.) will not be billed by USC - you pay them as you go to whomever provides the goods/services. That is why I said you could use your earnings to pay for them as you go. Let us know how the appeal turns out.</p>