Financial Aid: After the Freshman Year

<p>I was interested in finding out if the amount of grant money that was given to USC students was usually cut down after the freshman year, or if a person's families income remained the same, if there financial aid award would be consistent from year to year.<br>
I would appreciate anyone's stories of their experience with financial aid after their freshman year!</p>

<p>I called the financial aid office and asked them this question. They said as long as your family income remains similar to the income of your freshman year, your grant should remain the same. If your family earns more, then the grant will go down and visa versa.</p>

<p>I think the only twist to this might be that your federal Stafford loan goes up as you move up year by year, so your grant might be decreased slightly, correlated with the additional size of the Stafford loan. Otherwise I too have heard that if your EFC remains the same, your financial aid package should remain the same. This was something we talked to the Fin Aid office about last year. Our EFC has indeed remained the same this year so we will soon know for sure if what we were told is accurate.</p>

<p>bump...wondering if anyone else had any experiences to share</p>

<p>Soph Year:
EFC: 7378
Work Study: 2750<br>
Fed. Perkins Loan: 500
Sub. Fed Stafford Loan: 3500
Grant: 32000
Fin Aid Eligibity: 38750
Estimated Cost of Attendance 46966 </p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Fafsa efc: $7140
$2,500 Work study
$1,380 Perkins
$2,625 Subsidized Stafford
$28,518 Grant
The estimated cost of attendance for me is $ 44, 722</p>

<p>We have a few years of experience with this. Aid was generous and consistent from year to year. It has to be, otherwise freshmen would not be able to return in later years to finish and it would be a scandal.</p>

<p>My family hit some bumps in the road later in my college career, and the financial aid office was extremely accomodating. Also, I found there were more opportunities for small to midsized scholarships after freshman year for those who didn't qualify for the big bucks on entry.</p>