comparing aid awards /non-direct costs

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>The 2011-12 COA on the USC site only suggests $580 for transportation and $900 for personal. These numbers seem really low compared to the other schools my S is considering. Are they for real? Other schools have an average $2265 for personal, more than 2X USC. What exactly is included in the estimate for transportation costs? Just getting around town during the school year? Even the minimal airfare to come home only at Christmas would likely exceed that.</p>

<p>I would love to hear from current students and parents what kind of amounts are realistic.</p>

2

<p>This is actually something I also am very interested to know the answer to. I remember hearing a few times at the Explore USC that airfare would be included in a financial aid package, I also remember someone saying that those cost could not be covered by grants or scholarships. So if they are included in the financial aid package my understanding is that you would pay for them out of the loans portion of you aid. As an OOS student my S would have to fly (to Florida) for breaks and if paying for those trips is included in the COA then I won’t have to budget for airfare, but if not I will also need to prepare to pay as he comes and goes.</p>

<p>So if any of the existing students or parents can shed some light on these questions, I would be interested to hear your answers.</p>

3

<p>We live in Chicago area and S attends USC. He only comes back for semester break. Stays in LA for Thanksgiving and Spring Break. The result is 2 round trip air fares. We have him fly Southwest into Midway (inconvenient but cheap). Our airfare budget then is about $450 at most. Adding for Spring Break would add another $200 at most. I would find the airline with the cheapest fare and several nearby airports. My S flys to Midway rather than o"Hare. Midway is 1 hour (40 miles) from our house while O’Hare is 15 minutes and 10 miles away. But O’Hare would cost us double Midway.</p>

<p>Personal $$ depends on whether your student buys a lot of clothes, incidentals, eats out a lot, etc. My S eats out a lot so he spent more than $900. He is in an apt this year (he is a soph) so his food expenses have been kept down.</p>

4

<p>Is there any kind of “U-pass” for public transportation students are required to purchase? If so is it included in other fees or the transportation part of the COA?</p>

<p>What kind of transit or other public transportation is in the area? How do students generally get around off campus?</p>

5

<p>In the housing brochure “Living at USC” there is a chart comparing the cost of living in an apartment to that of a residence hall. I find it interesting that they estimate “Personal/misc.” at $1825, more than double the $900 in the COA.</p>

6

<p>I would suggest looking at the items in the cost of attendance NOT billed by USC as a “pool” rather than as discrete expense categories. They are:</p>

<p>$1,500 Books and supplies
900 Personal and misc</p>

<h2> 580 Transportation</h2>

<p>$2,980 Total budgeted over the cost of attendance</p>

<p>The significance of this number is that it is included in the COA when figuring financial aid - for those who do not qualify for financial aid, these amounts have no impact on you at all.</p>

<p>The biggest item, and the one I feel you have the most potential to reduce, is the books and supplies item. If you shop for used books online (NOT at the USC bookstore), most students can purchase a year’s worth of books for $500 - $800. There will be exceptions - some of the books inexplicably cost more than $200 (for paperbacks!), and if the instructor specifies a new edition there are no used books yet available.</p>

<p>The transportation number is just plain silly. To PARK a car at USC for the year it costs $800. That is already over the budgeted amount and not a single drop of gas has been put in the tank! Not to mention insurance and maintenence…</p>

<p>So look at the total $2,980 as a budget for transportation, books, supplies and personal expenses. Your best area to save will be on books - buying used from local online sources such as craigslist, sharing with classmates, asking instructors if older editions will work, and making use of Amazon Marketplace, half dot com, etc. can save 1/2 or more on that category to be used for the transportation costs that yes, will be more than $580.</p>

<p>*If your student will have much higher transportation costs because of airfare from oos or out of the country, you can ask for a budget adjustment upwards, but as a poster mentioned, that will only give you eligibility for additional loans, not more need-based aid. The need-based aid is based on the average COA.</p>