<p>hey for the 2000-3000$ summer earnings that usc expects/recommends,</p>
<p>wouldn’t that increase EFC for the next school yr since it raises family income??
or is there a threshold amount students can earn before it starts to affect the efc/income??</p>
<p>You’re right - there is a basic amount a student can earn that is ignored by financial aid calculations. According to my 2009 copy of “Paying for College Without Going Broke” tip #21b on page 108:</p>
<p>“For a student hoping to receive aid from a school using the institutional methodology, it doesn’t make sense to have income higher than $3,649 as an incoming freshman or $5,061 as an upperclassmen.”</p>
<p>Work/study earnings are ALWAYS excluded from financial aid calculations because they are considered aid in the year they are earned, so you can add your work.study total to the above amounts. (For example, an upperclassmen with $2,500 in work/study would have $5,061 plus $2,500 = $7,561 protected from financial aid calculations.)</p>
<p>You might check with USC if that has been increased a bit - USC increased the student contribution last year (afer my edition of the book was published), so they may have also increased the protection allowance. Student income over the protected amount is generally assessed for financial aid at about 50% (ouch!!!).</p>
<p>@alamemom = any idea how long cal grants take? ive had my award detail on hold for a while now =(</p>
<p>i just received my FA package today though. just keep waiting?
i got 18,858 in grants/loans/work study</p>
<p>The Cal Grant shows up as “estimated” in a USC package until it actually pays to the university - which I think is mid-September for Fall and Mid-January for Spring. Did USC include an estimated Cal Grant in your package?</p>
<p>The last info I saw on Cal Grants was back in March when they issued this <a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/pubs/forms/grnt_frm/03_25_2010calgrantstudentsandparents.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/pubs/forms/grnt_frm/03_25_2010calgrantstudentsandparents.pdf</a> The Governor has proposed eliminating new Cal Grants (probably why your shows as “on hold”), but maintaining, or paying out, existsing awards (for sophomores-seniors). The amount paid to private universities has already been frozen at $9,708/year.</p>
<p>Last year USC told their students that if they qualified for a Cal Grant but the Cal Grant program was eliminated after it had been included (as an estimated award) in their aid package, USC would cover it. I have not heard anything like that from USC this year, but I would not be surprised if they make the same assurance this year.</p>
<p>Alamemom,</p>
<p>Just to let you know that we just received my son’s full package. It is very close to last years and we are pleased.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help.</p>
<p>GREAT NEWS! Thanks for the update. If you have a minute, could you post a note in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/937455-returning-student-financial-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/937455-returning-student-financial-aid.html</a> thread to reassure those still waiting?</p>
<p>@alamemom - i dont have anything listed that says cal grant anything, but i do have university grant…</p>
<p>so i should wait till mid September till i start worrying?</p>
<p>California will have to have figured out Cal Grants before then! Mid Sept is just when they actually get the money to the university. I suggest you email USC now and ask why you do not have an estimated Cal Grant in your package. I am not sure what “on hold” specifically means on the WebGrants for students page. I know others have estimated Cal Grants in their packages even though it is not certain California will pay them.</p>
<p>@alamemom- hi again! it seems i’m in a similar situation as Dainese. Apparently, there is no cal grant in my financial package although I’m sure I should be qualified since I’ve been getting the Cal Grant for the past 2 years. Do you think it may have something to do with the fact that I requested the school change to USC about a week and a half ago? Thanks again :)</p>
<p>Update - So I just called about the Cal grant, and they said that when the cal grant is added, the university grant would be replaced by the Cal grant dollar for dollar unless your Cal grant is somehow greater than university grant. Basically, your Cal grant is technically included in the university grant if your cal grant has not appeared yet. Hope it helps!</p>
<p>I’m a veteran and just received my financial aid package. What do you guys think my debt will be by the time I get out of college? I’m commuting from Long Beach and they calculated it will cost me 46k a year.</p>
<p>Work Study: 2750
University Grant: 25766</p>
<p>Federal Parkins Loan: 1000
Unsubsidized Standford loan: 6000
Subsidized Standford loan: 4500</p>
<p>Total: 40016 + </p>
<p>POST 9/11 GI BILL: Plus 5025 per semester from the post 9/11 GI bill with 2052 a month for rent money.</p>
<p>@mstransfer - dang. thats a bummer. i want more money haha</p>
<p>mstransfer - thanks for getting the info!</p>
<p>doandydo - first, CONGRATULATIONS on your acceptance!!!</p>
<p>Now, let me check to see if i understand the GI money: You will get $5,025/semester plus $2,052/month for rent? </p>
<p>$5,025 X 2 semesters = $10,050
$2,052 X 8 months = $16,416 (Or do they give you 12 months of rent?)
Total = $26,466 from GI Bill - is that correct?</p>
<hr>
<p>They figured a $46,000 cost of attendance, and with tuition at $40,000+ it seems they assumed you would have the GI Bill for room and board and only added books and expenses of about $6,000.</p>
<p>The GI plus USC grant = $52,232 in free money
Work/Study = $2750
Perkins + SUBS Stafford = $5,500</p>
<p>Total = $60,482</p>
<p>If you think you can economize and live a bit more cheaply, you might try starting with just the $1,000 perkins and $4,500 subs Stafford. Sign up for the monthly payment plan and see if you can squeeze the other $6,000 (about $750/month) out of your living expenses. If in November you find you really do need that other $6,000 you can still request it then. (Do you have a family to support?)</p>
<p>If you did that, after two years you would only have $11,000 in debt. If you take the full loans it would be $23,000.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply alamemom!</p>
<p>i think its only 9 months of rent unless i go to summer school…and i plan to be on unemployment too. Ill figuring out the info…I’m going to live with my mother rent free and ill pay for like cable and stuff…I want to take out as few loans as possible…so if i take out a subsidized loan, I would try to pay it with the BAH money, which I am also living off of.</p>
<p>I was wondering where we are supposed to mail them our award letters for outside scholarships. Should we send them to this address?</p>
<p>USC Financial Aid Office
Attention: Aid Coordination Unit
700 Childs Way, JHH 324
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0914</p>
<p>According to the website, this is where we are supposed to mail our scholarship checks. Or is there a way, where we can just upload the documents online? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>^ That address would be fine. You could also FAX. If you want to do it online, you could scan and email.</p>
<p>ALWAYS include a letter politely requesting that they use your outside scholarships to reduce your subsidized Stafford loans and/or your Federal work/study. Otherwise they may automatically reduce your USC grant. Sometimes they will reduce your grant anyway, but it is always worth a try to get the loans replaced. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Hi i have question.</p>
<p>I’m looking at taking 6 units of community college classes this summer, and after talking with the financial aid counselor there, he says i would qualify for another, AN ADDITIONAL PELL GRANT FOR SUMMER '10 if i add the college’s school code to FAFSA. According to the counselor, this will not affect my financial aid for USC since it’s the end of the 09/10 school year, and 10/11 will be reapplied without the community college’s school code.
He said usually, the aid not used during fall/spring would be applied to summer, but starting this year, the government is offering pell money for community college students.</p>
<p>Then I called USC financial aid and they said since summer is a non-traditional semester, it would not affect financial aid. I will call again tomorrow </p>
<p>but should I expect this to affect the amount of aid I receive from USC?,
is there a line in fafsa/profile where i would have to divulge this additional financial aid?</p>
<p>The summer Pell is brand new this year. There can be some differences in how schools distribute it - some will tack it on to the previous year’s aid, and some will include in the year that follows. Here is a thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/915248-i-awarded-8-325-pell-grant.html?highlight=summer+pell[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/915248-i-awarded-8-325-pell-grant.html?highlight=summer+pell</a> with lots of discussion about it - pay particular attention to kelsmom’s posts - she is an actual financial aid officer. Here is one of her posts from that thread:
</p>
<p>If it was me, I would add the Community College code ONLY to the 2009-2010 FAFSA. I would not want to take a chance that it would impact my USC aid by adding it to the 2010-2011 FAFSA. It seems the counselor has said that the community college considers it part of the previous year’s aid - so that should work.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think there will be a line where you have to divulge it on the FAFSA - the FAOs can look up how much you have received in federal aid whenever they want (in other words, *they will know *about the additional Pell).</p>
<p>
I suggest you email so that you have written confirmation.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Hey alamemom thanks SOOO MUCH, I just added my community college to the fafsa 09-10 year .
however, in the other thread, it is noted that one must also have met the acceleration requirements in addition to part-time status in the summer, which
requires completing a full financial aid year in the fall+spring. How much usc’s full financial aid year? I received 28 units this year (10 in the fall, 18 in the spring), is that enough or would I have to take more than 6 units in the summer to qualify? Thanks again.</p>
<p>At this point, my brain has not managed to absorb how the summer Pell works. It starts out sounding simple, but if you read kelsmom’s posts in that thread I linked your head just starts to spin. Hopefully it will become more clear after this first summer.</p>
<p>Here is the academic progress requirements for financial aid [USC</a> Catalogue: Undergraduate Education: Financial Aid : Satisfactory Academic Progress](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2007/undergraduate/fin_aid_sap.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2007/undergraduate/fin_aid_sap.html) Normally 24 units are required for a full first year and 28 for a full second year. I do not know what the “accelleration requirements” are… or if you need more than the listed unit totals to meet them… I wonder if the FAO at your community college - who has had good information so far - would be able to figure it out and explain. It would be great if you can update us on how it works after the summer!</p>