<p>Sorry if this question has already been asked but is USC generous in giving financial aid because I really want to go there but it's very expensive. I know I qualify for financial, but how much does USC usually give?</p>
<p>Short answer: Yes USC is generous.</p>
<p>if you need it, they'll give it (willing to cover all with majority in grants and some in loans)</p>
<p>my FAFSA calculated EFC is 17,000... can i expect my USC calculated EFC to be larger or smaller than this?</p>
<p>^ expanding on from that...
if if if i get presidential, with that EFC what would my package look like?</p>
<p>16.75k prez
17k EFC
2.5k work study
5k stafford<br>
6.5k grant</p>
<p>? does that sound about accurate?</p>
<p>Nah, as far as I know the presidential counts "against" your EFC so I don't think you would get the grant. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.</p>
<p>you're wrong. Any scholarships count against your need, not against your contribution. Sorry.</p>
<p>Is all this information based on freshmen standings ? or is it also/for transfers ?... i'm transferring to USC (hopefully) and have an EFC of 6k-7k...</p>
<p>I agree that USC is very generous, very much so. However, I caution all of you - do not take that statement too literally. Do not "expect" USC to make it easy for you (financially). </p>
<p>In some cases, they do offer very large grants. In some cases, they offer very large scholarships. In some cases, after all their offers (grants, scholarships, loans) some people end up owing very little. Please, do not depend upon that being the case for you. </p>
<p>USC does not use the FAFSA EFC figure. They have their own calculations that they use. This is part of why they require you to fill out the CSS Profile. </p>
<p>For our situation, the USC EFC came out considerably higher than the FAFSA EFC number. And, USC did not offer us a grant to cover the difference. Our son received a Presidential Scholarship (~$17,000), which is very helpful, but it did not cover the full cost of attendance (~$47,000). </p>
<p>The one financial item that was the major contributor to the difference between the FAFSA EFC and the USC EFC was/is our home equity. We had 'heard' that colleges (including USC) do not look at home equity. In fact, someone associated with USC erroneously told us that USC values the fact the families do all that is required to buy a home. It was implied that USC overlooks the home equity. NOT. When we received our Official Financial Aid package from USC (which told us how much they were offering, as well as the balance due from us), we called the Financial Aid office. We were not angry - but we were surprised (and a bit disappointed) at how much we were going to be responsible for. The gentleman who we spoke with confirmed that USC does take into account your home equity, and that it was the primary reason why "our EFC" was higher than we expected. (Our home is not paid off, but we do have 20 years of equity in the house. USC, unofficially, considers the Home Equity to be money that can be tapped into to help pay for college. They would never officially state or imply that you should use your Home Equity. But, after repeated requests for details, the FA gentleman finally conceded that Home Equity does in fact affect Financial Aid packages. Officially, USC would probably say something like: "Families need to take a realistic look at their own financial situation, and make their final decision (on whether to attend USC) based on the overall needs and expectations for their family". If asked, officially USC would probably even discourage families from dipping into their Home Equity. Maybe, the unofficial, unstated argument would be: if you have enough financial ability to build up considerable equity in your home, then you probably had the ability over the years to save additional money for college. That is a guess on my part - as to how they might discuss Home Equity. The bottomline for us was that the Financial Aid manager at USC conceded that it was our home equity that negated our ability to get the grant that we had hoped for. </p>
<p>Last year (when our son was applying, was accepted, and was going through all the ups and downs of college acceptances), we read the many "CC" posts about USC meeting your full financial need. We saw people's posts from 2 years ago, about receiving grants for 10,000, 15,000, and other very large amounts. We had a certain amount ("x") in our minds - which we hoped would be what we would end up paying. It was more than we could easily afford, it would put some hardship on us, but it seemed like a realistic number. After the Presidential Scholarship, we hoped that USC would offer us a grant of "y" amount. That did not happen. We did receive the offer of a student loan, and we did receive an offer of a job for our son within his Major. But we did not receive the grant that we had hoped for. </p>
<p>We then were left with a dilemma. Do we say "No" to USC, because the cost (for us) was much more than we expected. Or, do we dig deep, and find the money somewhere/anywhere. Well, since I am posting to this thread, you can easily conclude that we bit the bullet and decided to come up with the extra amount. It has not been easy, but we are very satisfied with our decision. We love USC. Our son loves USC even more than we do. He is very very happy to be at USC, living in the dorms, and experiencing the best educational opportunities of his life, and the best social opportunities of his life. </p>
<p>In summary. Yes, USC is very very helpful with Financial Aid. But. I caution you to not take that too literally. You may receive a fantastic Financial Aid package (one of those that everyone envies when they see the numbers posted in a thread). Or, you may end up owing more than you expected. </p>
<p>My advice. Hope for the best (some large grant - leaving you with very little to pay), but be prepared (mentally, emotionally, financially, etc) for a worse number than you expect. I wish that more people (last year) had posted comments (like this one), so that we (and others) would have taken a more realistic approach to the Finances. </p>
<p>Lastly, USC does not combine offers. Let me explain. USC looks at your Financial numbers separately from any scholarships. If (based on your Financial numbers) USC would have offered you a $20,000 "Grant". Then, you qualify for the Presidential Scholarship (~ $17,000). USC is NOT going to give you both $20,000 + $17,000 = $37,000. Instead, the $17,000 will most likely be subtracted from (what would have been) a $20,000 Grant, and you will actually receive a $3,000 Grant. If, you do end up receiving both a Scholarship AND a Grant, you can pretty much assume that your Grant amount would have been even higher (had you not received the scholarship). They do have a number, that they think is a reasonable number for you to pay, and they will do all they can to help you get to that number. </p>
<p>The Process, and the calculations are much more complex than my simple example above. If the USC Financial Aid office saw my example above, they would water it down, and tell you that it is not exactly that simple. I do not work in their Financial Aid office, so I will readily accept any correction or clarification from them. However, from what we experienced, and from what we read from others (including several private messages), our example was what a lot of families experienced. The sticky point is - that if you receive a Scholarship, you will never 'officially' know how large of a Grant you may have received (without the scholarship). You will only see (in your package) what they are offering. I do not say any of this to discourage anyone. Instead, I offer the information so that you will approach the USC Finances in a realistic way.</p>
<p>Fight On USC.</p>
<p>Great post, lovetocamp. If anyone ever has a question about financial aid, I will link them to this post first. Thank you.</p>
<p>thanks for the post lovetocamp. I am definitely prepared for rejection or a bad FA package. The only thing I'm worried about/wondering is how differently do they treat transfer students from freshmen applicants when it comes to their need-based grants...</p>
<p>if i received the trustee scholarship and was left to pay for room and board (lets say r and b was 10000) and my efc is greater than 10000, then i would not receive anymore financial aid, correct?</p>
<p>j-sus: correct</p>
<p>i DO understand how the grant vs. scholarship thing works.<br>
what i was asking for is examples of how .much. higher USC-calculated EFC is than FAFSA-calculated EFC. </p>
<p>my FAFSA EFC is 17,000. my family owns a house and owes nothing on it. how much can i expect my USC EFC to be? 20k? 25k?? more?</p>
<p>If my FAFSA EFC is 3,554, what would the USC EFC be? My parents have paid off the house we are living in.</p>
<p>Socks - Your question is almost impossible to project an answer for (even though i would love to help you out by providing some logical guess). </p>
<p>One of my points (within my earlier post) was to state what I personally found to be true. (1) Our USC EFC was higher than FAFSA EFC, and (2) that our Home Equity was the primary reason (based on what the USC Financial Aid officer told me). How "much" higher will yours be? I can not even gurantee that yours will be higher. Our USC EFC was higher than the FAFSA EFC by approx. $7,000 - $8,000. Is that how much equity we have? Not even close. Our home equity is much much larger than the delta in EFCs., so I can not begin to draw any coorelation. </p>
<p>Also, there are so so many questions that are asked of parents, that feed into the Financial Aid determination. (On the Income/Assets side: Annual Salary, Savings/Checking account balances, Stock accounts, 2nd houses/real estate, dividend income, interest income, etc - and these are just a few of the many entries on the Income/Assests side. On the other side of the equation, there are expenses/liabilities: house payment, balance on loans, tuition paid for siblings, medical/dental expenses, alimony, child support, etc.). There are questions about educational savings accounts, income taxes paid, itemized deductions, number of exemptions, 401k and other retirement accounts, Social Security benefits, Trust funds, outside scholarships and grants, etc. </p>
<p>There could be vast differences in my numbers as compared to the numbers for your family. So even though my USC EFC was larger by "x", it does not mean that yours will be larger by the same amount, or even that yours will be larger. I will say that our FAFSA EFC was larger than your FAFSA EFC. I would like to think that is a good sign for you. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, due to the many variables involved, you will really have to just wait. As I stated earlier, you should hope for the best, but be prepared for all scenarios. </p>
<p>p.s. Have you seen the CSS Profile worksheet? I was amazed at how many questions, and the level of detail that they consider in a family's financial standing. Sure, they have the right to (I guess). Nonetheless, I was quite surprised. I could easily post the questions - if anyone is interested.</p>
<p>Added comment: If I had to draw a rough (very rough) conclusion, after seeing the posts from last year, and after exchanging private messages with other parents, it would be this. It seemed like those who posted low FAFSA EFC numbers, in general, seemed to end up with very nice looking Financial Aid packages. That is a huge over generalization. On the other side, my FAFSA EFC was over $20,000 and we did not receive nearly the same F/A package as others with much lower FAFSA EFCs. Lastly, those whose FAFSA EFC numbers were even higher than the USC 'cost of attendance' (~47,000) seemed to chuckle and concede that USC probably laughs when they see a request for Financial Aid for someone whose income and assets are that high.</p>
<p>Just for grins, I am going to post the questions from last year's CSS Profile, just to give you an idea of how many questions are asked. Enjoy.</p>
<p>STUDENT'S REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Question You Reported
Social Security Number
Title
Email Address
Date of Birth
Mailing Address
City
State/Country
Zip Code/Postal Code
Home Telephone Number
Year in School 1st Year (never previously attended college)
Financial Aid Status First-time applicant, entering student (or transfer student)
Marital Status Unmarried (single, divorced, widowed)
US Veteran?
Orphan/Ward of Court?
Legal Dependents?
Parents Separated, Divorced or Never Married?
Parents own Business or Farm?
Citizenship Status </p>
<p>SECTION A - STUDENT'S INFORMATION
Question You Reported
1 Number in Student's Household
2 Number in College
3 State of Legal Residence
4 Location of the Computer </p>
<p>SECTION B - STUDENT'S 2005 INCOME & BENEFITS
Question You Reported
5 U.S. Tax Figures
6 Number of Exemptions
7 Adjusted Gross Income-AGI
8a U.S. Income Taxes Paid
8b Education Credits - Hope & Lifetime learning
9 Itemized Deductions
10 Student's Work Income
11 Spouse's Work Income
12 Dividend & Interest Income
13a Social Security Benefits
13b Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
13c Child Support Received
13d Earned Income Credit
13e Other Untaxed Income
14 Work-Study, etc. Earnings </p>
<p>SECTION C - STUDENT'S ASSETS
Question You Reported
15 Cash, Savings, Checking Accounts
16 IRA, Keogh, 401K, 403b, etc
17a Investments Total Current Market Value
17b Investments Debt
18a Home Current Market Value
18b Home Debt
18c Home Purchase Year
18d Home Purchase Price
19a Other Real Estate Total Current Market Value
19b Other Real Estate Debt
20a Business & Farm Total Current Market Value
20b Business & Farm Debt
21 Student Living on Farm? No </p>
<p>SECTION D - STUDENT'S TRUST INFORMATION
Question You Reported
22a Value of Trusts
22b Principal Currently Available?
22c Trust Established By? </p>
<p>SECTION E - STUDENT'S 2005 EXPENSES
Question You Reported
23 Child Support Paid
24 Medical/Dental Expenses Not Covered by Insurance </p>
<p>SECTION F - STUDENT'S 2006-2007 RESOURCES
Question You Reported
25a VA Benefits Amount Per Month
25b VA Benefits Number of Months
26a Student's Summer Wages, Salaries, Tips, etc.
26b Student's School Year Wages, Salaries, Tips, etc.
26c Spouse's Summer Wages, Salaries, Tips, etc.
26d Spouse's School Year Wages
26e Other Taxable Income (Summer)
26f Other Taxable Income (School Year
26g Untaxed Income/Benefits (Summer)
26h Untaxed Income/Benefits (School Year)
26i Grants, Scholarships, etc.
26j Tuition Benefits from Employer
26k Amount Parents Think Can Pay
26l Amounts from Other Resources </p>
<p>SECTION G - PARENTS' HOUSEHOLD INFORMATION
Question You Reported
27 Number in Parents' Household
28 Number in College
29 Number Parents in College
30a Marital Status of Parents
30b Date of Remarriage
31 State of Legal Residence
32 Parents Email Address </p>
<p>SECTION H - PARENTS' EXPENSES
Question You Reported
33a 2005 Child Support Paid
33b 2006 Child Support to be Paid
34a 2005 Repayment of Educational Loans
34b 2006 Expected Repayment of Educational Loans
35a 2005 Medical/Dental Expenses not Covered by Insurance
35b 2006 Medical/Dental Expenses not Covered by Insurance
36a 2005 Elementary/Secondary Tuition Paid
36b 2006 Elementary/Secondary Tuition to be Paid
36c 2005 Tuition for Number of Children
36d 2006 Tuition for Number of Children </p>
<p>SECTION I - PARENTS' ASSETS
Question You Reported
37 Cash, Savings, Checking Accounts
38a Assets in Siblings' Names
38b Siblings' 529 Prepaid Tuition Plan Value
38c Student's 529 Prepaid Tuition Plan Value
39a Investments Total Current Market Value
39b Investments Debt
40a Home Current Market Value
40b Home Debt
40c Home Purchase Year
40d Home Purchase Price
40e Monthly Mortgage/Rent
41a Business Current Market Value
41b Business Debt
42a Farm Current Market Value
42b Farm Debt
42c Family Living on Farm?
43a Other Real Estate Total Current Market Value
43b Other Real Estate Debt
43c Other Real Estate Year Purchased
43d Other Real Estate Purchase Price </p>
<p>SECTION J - PARENTS' 2004 INCOME & BENEFITS
Question You Reported
44 2004 Adjusted Gross Income
45 2004 U.S. Income Tax Paid
46 2004 Itemized Deductions
47 2004 Untaxed Income & Benefits </p>
<p>SECTION K - PARENT'S 2005 INCOME & BENEFITS
Question You Reported
48 U.S. Tax Figures estimated. Will file IRS Form 1040.
49 Number of Exemptions
50a Wages, Salaries, Tips
50b Interest Income
50c Dividend Income
50d Net Income/Loss Business, Farm, etc.
50e Other Taxable Income
50f Adjustments to Income
50g Adjusted Gross Income - AGI
51a U.S. Income Tax Paid
51b Education Credits - Hope & Lifetime Learning
52 Itemized Deductions
53 Father's/Stepfather's Work Income
54 Mother's/Stepmother's Work Income
55a Social Security Benefits Received for Family
55b Social Security Benefits Received for the Student
55c Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
55d Child Support Received
55e Deductible IRA/Keogh Payments
55f Tax Deferred Plan Payments
55g Tuition and Fees Deduction
55h Amounts withheld for Depend./Medical Spend. Acct.
55i Earned Income Credit
55j Housing, Food, Living Allowances
55k Tax Exempt Interest Income
55l Foreign Income Exclusion
55m Other Untaxed Income </p>
<p>SECTION L - PARENTS' 2006 EXPECTED INCOME & BENEFITS
Question You Reported
56 2006 Father's/Stepfather's Work Income
57 2006 Mother's/Stepmother's Work Income
58 2006 Other Taxable Income
59 2006 Untaxed Income </p>
<p>SECTION M - DEPENDENT FAMILY MEMBER LISTING
Student You Reported
Full Name
Tax Exemption in 2005?
Name of College/School 2005-2006 C
Year in School 2005-2006
Scholarships and Grants 2005-2006
Parents' Contribution 2005-2006
Family Member
Full Name
Tax Exemption in 2005?
Relationship to Student Student's brother/sister or half-brother/sister
Age
Name of College/School
Year in School 2005-2006
Scholarships and Grants 2005-2006
Parents' Contribution 2005-2006
Attendance 2006-2007
College Name 2006-2007
College Type 2006-2007 </p>
<p>SECTION N - PARENTS' INFORMATION
Question You Reported
61a Parent's Relationship to Student Father
61b Name
61c Date of Birth
61d Self-employed or Unemployed?
61e Unemployed Date
61f Occupation
61g Employer
61h Number of Years
61i Daytime Telephone
61j Retirement Plans
61j Social Security
61j Civil Service/State
61j Military
61j Union/Employer
61j IRA/Keogh/Tax-deferred
61j Other
61k Attend College?
61l Name of College
61m College Type
62a Parent's Relationship to Student Mother
62b Name
62c Date of Birth
62d Self-employed or Unemployed?
62e Unemployed Date
62f Occupation
62g Employer
62h Number of Years
62i Daytime Telephone
62j Retirement Plans
62j Social Security
62j Civil Service/State
62j Military
62j Union/Employer
62j IRA/Keogh/Tax-deferred
62j Other No
62k Attend College?
62l Name of College
62m College Type
PARENT LOAN INFORMATION
A Want to be Considered for Educational Loan?
B Parent's Name
C Parent's Address
C Parent's City
C Parent's State
C Parent's Zip Code
D Parent's Home Telephone
E Parent's Social Security Number
F Parent's Date of Birth
G Parent's Email </p>
<p>SECTION O - NONCUSTODIAL PARENT INFORMATION
Question You Reported
63a Noncustodial Parent's Name
63b Address
63c City, State, Zip
63d Occupation/Employer
63e Year of Separation
63f Year of Divorce
63g Court Order Support End Date
63h Last Claimed Tax Exemption
63i Year Last Claimed as Tax Exemption
63j Noncustodial Contribution
63k Agreement Specifying Contribution</p>
<hr>
<p>ok thanks, camp. i just wanted to get an idea.
i filed my CSS profile a while ago. boy is that form annoying! it makes the FAFSA seem like fun.</p>