<p>I wonder if everyone is returning to USC after reading about the financial aid reductions.</p>
<p>i’m returning next year but will be applying to transfer given the current situation</p>
<p>furyshade, I am sorry you are unhappy with your financial aid, but you mentioned on the “Ranking Rigging” thread BEFORE your financial aid was posted that you were considering transferring. So, while I am sure less financial aid is contributing to your decision, it doesn’t seem you are being “forced out” because of financial aid.</p>
<p>One of my son’s suite-mates is scrambling to make new plans after a huge reduction in his USC grant. I feel so sorry about how this is affecting so many people.</p>
<p>alamemom, i was thinking about it but financial aid was definitely the deciding factor. i could have lived with the ranking rigging thing even though i felt it was dishonest but i didn’t start doing research and emailing admissions officers until i got my financial aid, or lack thereof.</p>
<p>and the post didn’t ask who was being forced out, just who wasn’t returning because of it.</p>
<p>furyshade, as your financial aid reduction is a result of your brother graduating from college, and you were already considering transferring for other reasons, it seems a bit misleading to post - as you have here and on other threads - that financial aid is the reason for your transfer. </p>
<p>When a family has two or more students in college at the same time, the EFC is split between them. When one of those students graduates, the EFC is no longer split - it is applied to the remaining student. This is not a USC policy, it is consistant throughout college financial aid. If you find that your family cannot afford USC with only one undergraduate, it is sensible for you to consider transferring, but again, it is misleading to tell others that your financial aid was unfairly reduced.</p>
<p>I am a low EFC (high need) returning student. My second year financial aid package is a bit more than my first year. USC has certainly been fair to me. And YES, I am returning to USC!</p>
<p>furyshade, as your financial aid reduction is a result of your brother graduating from college, and you were already considering transferring for other reasons, it seems a bit misleading to post - as you have here and on other threads - that financial aid is the reason for your transfer. </p>
<p>“When a family has two or more students in college at the same time, the EFC is split between them. When one of those students graduates, the EFC is no longer split - it is applied to the remaining student. This is not a USC policy, it is consistant throughout college financial aid. If you find that your family cannot afford USC with only one undergraduate, it is sensible for you to consider transferring, but again, it is misleading to tell others that your financial aid was unfairly reduced.”</p>
<p>i never said it was unfairly reduced, i think i even admitted in the thread i understand why the reduction took place, none of that changes the fact that due to a reduction in financial aid i will be transferring. USC having a clause saying that my family isn’t expected to pay for my brother’s grad school doesn’t change the fact that it is happening. like i said, i am not being forced out but i do fit the criteria of the thread. a) my financial aid was reduced and b) i am seriously looking in to transferring because of it. i didn’t say it was some great injustice, just that the university’s policy on financial aid has lead to a situation where it is financially not the best decision for me to stay.</p>
<p>Again, I am sorry you are unhappy with USC, but
this is not a “USC clause.” This is the policy of financial aid at all colleges and universities. It is not hidden or secret. Be sure to discuss this with the universities to which you apply for transfer. They will also be figuring your EFC based on one undergraduate.</p>
<p>yes, that is why i am looking in to transferring to a state school that will have an inherently lower cost of admission. again, i am not saying anything against USC specifically and i’m sure most private universities would do the same thing. it is unfortunate that my family didn’t know ahead of time what the change would be from first year to second. you seem to be trying to read between the lines something that sin’t there. i will lay it out again</p>
<p>a) usc eliminated my financial aid
b) i will be trying to transfer</p>
<p>that is all, no more no less, please don’t try to read more in to it than i wrote.</p>
<p>furyshade, I am not reading anything into it, and I am truly sorry that you are unhappy at USC.</p>
<p>What I am trying to point out to *others reading this thread *is that though - from your first post on this thread - it sounds as though you have to leave USC because they “eliminated your financial aid,” the reality is that 1) you were unhappy with USC and planning to transfer BEFORE you knew about your aid and 2) your aid was not “eliminated,” it is that you no longer qualify for aid because of your high EFC.</p>
<p>I don’t want new students to panic, thinking USC will “eliminate their aid” next year for no reason, based on your posts. Had your post included this other, important information, I would not have needed to add it for a more balanced picture.</p>
<p>Good luck in your transfer, I am sure you will do well.</p>
<p>please realize there is a significant difference between, “i am unhappy with something my university did and have doubts about being here” and “i am actively seeking to transfer”. also i feel my positions will probably be common, there are probably plenty of people who will lose financial aid once a sibling graduates and they probably don’t know this will happen until it happens, just like what happened with me. </p>
<p>again, did i ever say, “usc eliminated my financial completely arbitrarily and someone in the financial aid office has a personal vendetta against me”? no, but what i said is accurate, USC did eliminate my aid for a reason that many people who may go there will encounter. and as the thread where my situation was explained was explicitly mentioned in the OP, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out why i’m leaving. hell, i’ll conjecture that the vast majority of people who lost aid didn’t do so for some ridiculous mistake or arbitrary reason, most likely they encountered situations like mine.</p>
<p>It sounds like some people’s financial aid package was lessened due to change in the family circumstances (for example, sibling graduated) and other people don’t know why they lost financial aid which they think they truly need.</p>
<p>alamemon is right in posting to let others reading this understand financial aid. It applies to USC and ALL universities, both public and private. Students who are in high school now and are considering applying for financial aid should realize and take into account how many siblings will be in college at the same time and for how many years. This should be part of the financial planning for college up front so it does not come as a shock. Everyone should read a book on financial aid.</p>
<p>^“Paying for College Without Going Broke” is an excellent one. There is a new, updated edition every year in October. The $17 it cost is the best investment we ever made. One of the (many) strategies mentioned in the book is for families with kids fairly close in age and high EFCs to have the older sibling take a gap year, or even two years, to maximize the financial aid for which the family is eligible by having them attend at the same time. A family with an EFC of $50,000 would qualify for no aid with one student at a private university costing $50,000/year, but they would qualify for $50,000 in need-based aid if they have two attending private, $50,000/year universities at the same time. (The aid would be spread over both students.)</p>
<p>One student @ $50,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = 0 need.</p>
<p>Two students @ $50,000= $100,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = $50,000 need.</p>
<p>A key point is that this only applies to undergraduates. Graduate students are considered independant - regardless of age - for financial aid purposes and do not figure into the family’s need formula.</p>
<p>What happens if a sibling was in undergraduate college, but dropped out, and is currently trying to get back on track? Do they still count as undergraduate students, even if it’s taken them more than 4 years? My brother was suppose to graduate this year (2009), but he dropped out in his 3rd year. Now he is trying to go to nursing school while finishing up pre-reqs at community college.</p>
<p>If he is a full-time undergraduate under age 24 for the full year, then yes, he is considered in financial aid formulas. The cost of attendance at a community college is very low, however, so his entire cost of attendance would probably be under his self-help portion of federal loans and/or work/study. Your EFC will not be “divided in half,” in this example nearly all of it would apply to you. You both need to fill out a FAFSA.</p>
<p>It is also important to remember that USC also uses the CSS/Profile (which takes into account assets, such as home equity, that the FAFSA does not) and may determine that you have a higher EFC than the FAFSA figure.</p>
<p>I second the advice to read the book alamemom suggested. It’s great. </p>
<p>Regarding the above message re CSS profile, that’s crucial information for people to understand. When I see people report “our EFC=5k”, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything if it comes from FAFSA. What can make a huge difference, and what top private colleges tend to use, is the info from the profile about assets, including home values. (Of course that probably has very little to do with the change in grants for returning students - those assets also would have been taken into account last year.)</p>
<p>My son will be returning to graduate. I will have to empty my 401k and remortgage the house. But I’m not telling him that. I try to console myself that a USC degree will allow him to get a good job and help me out later, but with his loans and a degree in history, who knows? He’s worked too hard to destroy his dream. Anyone know a good bankruptcy lawyer?
j/k (maybe…)</p>
<p>Do NOT empty your 401k and remortgage your house. Go back to USC financial aid and explain them your situation. If you still don’t get the money your son needs from USC financial aid, be honest with your son. You need to protect your retirement and house.
Your son can take a year off to work if need be or transfer to a state school. If he is lucky, he will get a job with an employer who can help finance grad school.</p>