<p>The student programing fee is different from the housing activity fee. The student programing fee is for things like conquest, the welcome week concerts, springfest, all the free programing USC and USG/Program Boards put on. This is paid by ALL students. The housing activity fee is only if you live in university housing and is used for programing that your RA does</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the clarification! </p>
<p>I just discovered - and this makes sense - that students on study abroad do not pay the $236 health center fee. Yipee! Do any of you know if students living in non-USC housing are still required to pay the Health Center Fee? (This is different from the USC Health Insurance, which can be waived.)</p>
<p>Another one all students will pay: The N. Topping Student Aid Fund for $8.</p>
<p>A fee that isn’t required but that I recommend you add: The Tuition Refund Insurance for ~$80. If you cannot complete the semester because of illness, family emergency, etc., this will pay your tuition for an additional semester.</p>
<p>Students living in non-USC housing ares till required to pay the Health Center fee. That is for the use of the Health Center which can be used by students whether in USC housing or non-USC housing. I think the Health Insurance page talks about this fee or has a link to an explanation of this fee.</p>
<p>Hello all, just thought I’d let you know that after submitting a financial aid award revision appeal I was able to receive $3162 more in University Grant funds. For those who have been juxtaposing the numbers of your current home equity value, parents’ income, and bank account funds with the cost of attendance and are quite unhappy with your financial aid package, I highly suggest writing an appeal. Though the process may take awhile, any money you can get out of it is worth the effort. All I did was analyze some numbers and wrote a 4 page letter and received $3162, which basically meant I helped my family earn $3162 more towards my education. </p>
<p>If you want to try and alleviate the stress of your household, just try and write a convincing letter and it’s much better than taking a minimum job trying to raise the same amount.</p>
<p>Great job! And excellent advice. It never hurts to ask - the worst they can do is say “no,” and they just might say “yes.”</p>
<p>This might sound weird but I am in dire need of a new computer and I’m cutting it very close with my loan money as it is. Is it possible to tell USC this and they can up my loan amounts a bit more? I’m talking for my PLUS loan. I’m living in gateway and that’s eating a large amount of my loan money… right now I’m not even sure how much books are going to cost, they only gave me 24,000 something each semester, so… that doesn’t really cover much.</p>
<p>Yes, you can request a one-time Cost of Attendance adjustment to increase loan eligibilty for the purchase of a computer for college use. It seems you have already figured out that won’t increase your Stafford eligibility if you already have the max, but it will increase your parents’ PLUS eligibility. </p>
<p>I think the additional amount is $2,000 for a computer purchase, but I am not certain about that. Send an email, letter or FAX to USC to request a COA increase. Include your USC ID#.</p>
<p>Another strategy for students who have been awarded outside scholarships and are on need-based aid: Request the COA adjustment for a computer purchase which may create a “gap” in your aid. Sometimes, if you ask, they will allow you to apply your outside scholarship to the computer purchase (gap) instead of to your work/study or subsidized Stafford loans. It is ALWAYS worth asking.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Quick question:</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the GI Bill reduces the amount of your financial aid award? Or does it stack on top of what I’m already getting?? The head of veteran’s affairs is on vacation or something and I can’t get a straight answer from veteran’s affairs or financial aid.</p>
<p>Hi sirownzalot!</p>
<p>I know nothing about the GI Bill at all - sorry! We do have another poster here, doandydo, who is receiving military benefits and USC financial aid. On this thread, take a look at posts #302, 347, 451, and 454 for some information. His situation may be very different from yours and may or may not help you figure what you will get, but he received an excellent package.</p>
<p>You could also try PMing doandydo with your questions. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I still haven’t gotten my financial aid package. should i be worried? i turned my last document in two weeks ago.</p>
<p>
I would be absolutely terrified… Oh, um, I guess I am supposed to be reassuring and stuff 
. </p>
<p>The reason you haven’t received your package is, of course, because your documents were late. Since the payment deadline and the start of the semester are looming, if it were me I would probably make a polite and sheepish call at least every other day to inquire about my aid. When you do get your package, get your Stafford loan request in right away - it takes a bit of paperwork (well, online-work) and time to process and fund the loans.</p>
<p>On the hopeful side, we have had at least two or three posters this year who turned in very late documents and still received aid that made it possible to attend. </p>
<p>Let us know how it turns out!</p>
<p>Just a status update: Still waiting on the aid coordination department to see if I get the cal grant or not.</p>
<p>Can I use loans for purchasing books/supplies? If so, how does that work?</p>
<p>If your financial aid exceeds your billed charges, you request a refund of the excess funds. They can issue a check or deposit directly to your bank account. [USC-FBS</a> - sfs](<a href=“http://fbs.usc.edu/depts/sfs]USC-FBS”>Student Financial Services) Click on the “Refunds” link on the left.</p>
<p>Hi Alamemom,</p>
<p>I remember reading (sorry if I have the name wrong) “ubergook’s” post about a late financial aid report and receiving a lot of aid. I did the same and also received a lot of aid… around $37,000, with an estimated family contribution of $18,000. However, last night FAFSA sent me an email stating that my information had been updated. Before corrections, my EFC was 2829. After corrections, it changed to 4465. Now my package is flipped and my aid is now $18,000, with an estimated family contribution of $37,000. My question is, is my new package on par with my new EFC? And also, would you have an idea of why it would drop so dramatically after a few weeks? I’m worried.</p>
<p>You should definitely call USC financial aid as soon as possible. Have your copies of the CSS/Profile, your taxes and FAFSA in front of you. Then ask why your family contribution was increased and why there is now a big gap. Hopefully it is a mistake.</p>
<p>Is there any chance you are a Spring admit and they changed a full-year aid package to a half-year package?</p>
<p>Please come back and update us when you get some answers.</p>
<p>Somebody please help! My Mom is freaking out because she hasn’t heard anything about her parent plus loan…is this normal…she says she has to pay the bill in a couple weeks! She also said she talked to someone in Financial aid and they said they would email when its ready…shouldn’t it already be ready? School starts in a couple weeks!?!</p>
<p>I got an email from Jose Hernandez the Assistant Director of Aid Coordination explaining how the GI bill works. This should help out any vets in the future. </p>
<p>Basically, Title IV funds aren’t affected. This means any Perkins, Stafford loans, and work study. If the University Grant plus the GI bill award exceeds the cost of attendance ($55,578), then the university grant gets reduced so everything equals $55,578.</p>
<p>Equaling $55,578 sounds pretty good! Thanks for getting the info sirownzalot!</p>
<p>Toronto44 - If your mom has discussed it with USC financial aid and they did not require any additional information, then all you need to do is wait for that email.</p>
<p>It isn’t clear from your post if your mother is waiting for approval of the PLUS loans or waiting for the funds to arrive. Once it has been approved and she has done the MPN, the funds will not be credited to your student account until 10 days before classes start at the earliest. PLUS loans are Federal loans and those are the Federal rules.</p>
<p>yeah so usc emailed me last week saying i was approved for the parental plus loan for the entirety of my expected contribution so i was ecstatic… but i get a letter in the mail today addressed to my mom that says she is denied the federal plus loan because she went bankrupt in 06… does usc know something that i dont? or vica versa?? this is a huge development as now I have to find 8,000 in like 2 weeks</p>