If, IF they do professional judgment and reconsider the FA, its unlikely they will offer much this year. They will tell you they will look at next year’s FAFSA and review then.
Let’s cut to the chase: USC is not a better opportunity for engineering studies. It’s not worth the extra 40k or more, per year just to be in LA. Over the years, we adults have seen many kids get their internships or job opps in other states. If you’re on the ball, you can, too.<
So you’re playing a “grass is greener” game, laced with being oblivious to the cost issues.
As for the aid review, posters are right. USC likely won’t make up the 40k you need. This is not as simple as meeting your new need.
Wanna tell us what the income total was (job pay,) then what the housing allowance was? Then I think we can explain better. We’d need to know their assets, too.
The fact your parents “can” pay X (or that’s what they’re willing to, in this bind) does not equate to getting the rest in aid. Particulars matter and there’s still a formula they have to follow.
@lookingforward well I believe they made like 230k before taxes (including housing and high school costs payed by company) They don’t have assets I think. With my parents new expected job, they expect their new salary to be like 120k. According to USC’s net price calculator, this income and the fact that my sibling will go to college next year will qualify me for 30k in gift aid. Thats y I am confused and don’t know what to do at this point.
There is no confusion. Stay. Where. You. Are. You cannot take out loans without a qualified co-signer. Period. And it would be crazy to anyway.
An engineering degree from USC is not worth a penny more than one from UF. Let’s say a company hires two engineers - one from USC and one from UF. Guess what? They both get paid the same amount!
I’ve been a hiring manager for 30+ years. Once you get your degree your career is all about how you perform, not about where you got the degree. It literally is not looked at!
USC will consider your 2017 income for the 2019-2020 school year.
For 2017-2018 it was 2015 income.
For 2018-2019 it will be 2016.
So eventually the college will consider the lower income.
And as I said before, your parents could have banked that additional income to use for college.
Married working expats also have 200K in foreign income exclusion, what taxes are you including in your math? Local?
If your parents have no assets, (no home, no savings, no retirement) and are coming back to the USA on 120K before taxes, they might not have the money for UF, let alone USC. Where is home going to be for them?
Both of your parents lost their jobs a couple of weeks ago??
Anyway…that is toooooo soon for a college to consider. They’re not going to arrange for more aid NOW, when for all they know your parents may get new jobs very soon.
The school will likely wait until your parents are unemployed for at least 3 months to proceed. That’s not soon enough for you.
UFlorida has a college of eng’g that is just as good as USC.
BTW…have your parents said that they can STILL pay for UFlorida? Are you getting instate rates there??
@Sybylla They are not going to the US. They are maybe gonna go to Europe. @mom2collegekids yea they can still pay uf but we are not getting in state rates.
Usually people take overseas jobs to put money away. Your parents didn’t do this? Where did they work? (I’m guessing the Middle East?)
What will your parents be able to afford when your sibling goes to college, when there will be two of you in college for two years?
Please listen to everyone here. Stay at your current school and get your engineering degree. Once you have graduated, you can satisfy your lifestyle wants as much as you want. You can get a job in CA.
Seems the parents are welling to pay full cost at UF (OOS tuition is $28+K a year), but not USC ($50K a year).
Where to start…where to start…
Well first, UF ISE is a fairly well respected(ranked) program, that’s well recruited. If you haven’t already, start a free LinkedIn account and do a search on UF engineering alumni.
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/school/4282/alumni/?facetCurrentFunction=8
You’ll see that the 2nd most popular area for Gator engineering alumni to live in is the San Francisco bay area. Plenty of Gators work on the west coast. My daughter, who is a raising senior in UF’s ISE department, was considering an internship in San Francisco bay area, this summer, but decided to take one closer to home*.
Next, unless USC offers you more aid, it’s not happening. You’ll need to make the most out of attending UF. Don’t “give up”. You need to make an effort to engage with campus (even if you think you may transfer out at a later date). Join student organizations and start networking. You MUST attend career showcase in the fall. Get your resume ready and met with some of the employers. It’s not critical that you get an internship on your first try, but that you become better “at it” with practice. You’re shooting for something before your senior year. With an internship completed, you’ll find landing a job, anywhere, including the west coast, much easier after graduation.
Good Luck!
*Fun note, the internship she did accept, was with a major Toyota distributor. They offered their interns a great employee/family discount program, and now my wife is driving a brand new 2017 Toyota Camry, Thanks Dear! By the way, she found the internship on LinkedIn, so don’t forget to apply for internships via LinkedIn!
Actually, the full cost of attendance at USC is almost $70,000 a year. Tuition only is $50,000 ish.
And as you may know…OOS for UF is in the $48,000 a year range.
That’s $20,000 a year difference this OP thinks his parents can just pay…with jobs with reduced income.
The thing is…this OP wants USC to use his family 2017 income to determine his 2017-2018 financial aid. The fact is…the schools use 2015 income for 2017-2018, and will use 2016 for 2018-2019. Why should the college make an exception for this student? The family 2017 income (which prwsumably will be a bit lower) will be used for the 2019-2020 academic year…just like everyone else.
Yes, I realize this student MIGHT have a reduction in family income.
But as pointed out above…the family also gets a foreign income exclusion. I’m not sure what the issue is here.
The student should stay put…get his degree at UF, and be grateful his parents can fund that for him. Asking for an additional $20,000 a year or so…is asking for an additional $2000 a MONTH just about.
I am more interested how they are doing full pay OOS rates at UF, or did you get merit there?
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Agreed. I think the op needs to double check with both parents about that.
@Sybylla @mom2collegekids well UF was like 35k overall including tuition, housing, food etc… I didn’t feel like I got my moneys worth though… USC with the right financial aid is a better investment (by far). Also, where my parents live, they tax them like 60% of their income and they didn’t consider that. In the US taxes are way less. Very flawed financial aid system…So thats also something that I will argue as well in my appeal.
If you didn’t get your “money’s worth” at UF…that is YOUR fault…not the school’s fault. I can tell you…in my house, I wouldn’t pay a nickel more for a student to attend college if that was one of the reasons.
If you are full pay…your parents are already paying over $3000 a month for you to attend college. The added cost for USC will be close to $7000 a month.
Right now…they don’t have jobs. And if they get jobs of $120,000 a year…this will be the HUGE portion of their take home income.
But you are also asking USC to consider your parent FUTURE lower income…their income for 2017. This year…income from 2015 is being used to determine financial aid need. Why do you think YOU should be an exception to this? Your parent 2017 lower income will be considered in 2019-2020…like everyone else.
I don’t think you understood @Sybylla question at all.
Are your parents U.S. citizens? If so, they are required to file a U.S. Income tax return. Did they do that in 2015? As U.S. citizens living abroad, they get a foreign income exclusion on their U.S. taxes.
@BelknapPoint do you know how the foreign income exclusion would affect a total foreign income of say…$250,000 for a couple married filing jointly? Assuming no other finances…how would that reduce the AGI?
@thumper1 you can’t deny the fact that USC will open more doors for me because its better and in a major city. Gainesville is super boring compared to LA. There is literally nothing to do other than get plastered every weekend. Also, the student body is one million times more diverse and at USC. Nothing against UF, its just that USC is a better fit for me and I’ll be happier. What do u mean why I should get an exception? There has been a change of circumstance, and the aid they gave me does not cover my need. They have to take into consideration the loss in income this year. With the income my parent earned this year, we are eligible for 30k in gift aid according to their net price calculator. UF wouldn’t give me anything at all. Yes, my family is American, but I don’t understand what u mean by foreign income exclusion.
Foreign income exemption is a U.S. income tax rule. If you live and work abroad, you don’t have to pay taxes on $200,000 of the income. That means people earning and living abroad will actually have a higher net income than people with the same gross income who work and live in the U.S.
It’s been many years since I used the income exception myself but I think that’s how it would work for financial aid.
So, you should not trust the USC NPC.
I hope I don’t sound insensitive, but it seems like you are in love with the idea of living in LA and attending USC, and that is clouding your perceptions of UF. I’m also kind of wondering if you are dealing with transition issues, being back in the U.S., and you think being at USC, the school you love, will relieve that. I’m just guessing as a person who dealt with that kind of difficulty as a college student and years later watched my own kids go through it. Coming back to the U.S., I did feel more comfortable with an international student body. And my oldest daughter had a very rough first year in the U.S. After being born and only living abroad, it was like she was American in paper only and moving here was a major culture shock.
I could be totally wrong, but it might be something to think about, whether or not your negative feelings about UF are part of an adjustment/transition phase.
Colleges don’t have to take the loss of income into account this year, and if they do it may not make a huge difference in your package. Colleges expect part of college funding to come from savings, and your parents earned $230k in 2015. They may make a small allowance for the drop in current income, but if your parents accept jobs this fall that will gross $120k/year, this year’s gross will be ~$160k, not $120k. But why would a college assume people who can gross $230k/year would take such a huge pay cut? The smart thing to do would be to offer a package with the assumption that they’ll take jobs at a similar level and adjust the package once a new income has been established. I don’t think an income of $160k will net much need based aid.
I do disagree that USC will open more doors for you. What you do with your degree is what matters. If you’re an engineering student in an ABET accredited program, that’s all you need. A company won’t pay an employee with a degree from USC more than they would an employee who graduated from UF. But if you don’t like it there, search for a college that’s a better fit for you that’s affordable for your family.
Why transfer to a school that’s twice what your parents can pay, especially since they have a reduced income just because you can’t find something better to do with your weekends? If you want to transfer, why not search out schools that are in the $30k/year range if that’s what they can afford? The SUNYs charge that for OOS students. I’m sure there are other options at that price point too.
“…can’t deny the fact that USC will open more doors for me because its better and in a major city…”
Versus UF, in your field?
YES, we can. And we are. All of us. Lol, are you serious? You don’t have the money. You don’t seem to understand your parents’ finances, how they’re taxed, what FA looks at, how one goes for internships, what brightens their future prospects, etc.
All you know is what freshman year was like, those low level courses. And it seems you chose getting plastered over academics, on weekends. ? No better ideas? SMH. This is college, not fun and games.
Plus, colleges don’t let families make unlimited choices, then throw money at them, so they keep their discretionary lifestyle.
I think we all wonder just what your parents were doing with that 250k. And the college will, too. There is a presumption of equal responsibility.
And I asked what the housing allowance was, separately, so we could see that bump, not just some total guess.
OP it seems you have ‘the grass is greener’ syndrome. Family has a lot of life changes. Concentrate on your college studies and what things are available to you where you are.