<p>Hi! </p>
<p>I'm currently a high school senior who was deferred to spring semester at the University of Southern California.</p>
<p>Total Estimated Expenses: $29,088 </p>
<p>Federal Work-Study (Spring 2012) $1,250<br>
University Grant (Spring 2012) $19,840<br>
Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan (Spring 2012) $1,750<br>
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan (Spring 2012) $1,000<br>
Total Awards $23,840 </p>
<p>Estimated Family Contribution $5,248 </p>
<p>Estimated Monthly Payment with USC Payment Plan (Divide by 2 for a single term)
$1,050 </p>
<p>This package is only for the spring semester, right? This leaves me approximately 8k/semester to pay or 16k/year. </p>
<p>Is it possible that my financial aid package will change dramatically for fall 2012? </p>
<p>For the university grant, is it awared per semester? </p>
<p>And, are the Cal Grant and Pell Grant included into the university grant or can I add them to my cost? </p>
<p>Thank you so much for any help!</p>
<p>It is likely that the grant will carry over in that same amount for each following semester. The package should not change significantly, but you may want to contact the financial aid office to be sure.</p>
<p>You do not need to come up with $8,000 per semester, only the $5,000 family contribution. Taking out the Stafford loans is a reasonable amount of borrowing.</p>
<p>The Cal Grant and Pell Grant are not listed on your package, therefore it appears you are not eligible for either program. If you think you should be, you need to check your FAFSA for any errors. What is your FAFSA-generated EFC?</p>
<p>Often times, CAL Grant and Federal Pell Grant are not immediately listed on a student’s financial aid award until all necessary documents are in.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Yes, that is a 1/2 year award for Spring semester only. In future years USC will apply the same calculation they used to come up with this year’s aid package. If everything were to stay *exactly the same <a href=“and%20it%20never%20does”>/I</a>, you would get a very similar package, but with the sophomore Stafford of $6,500 which would reduce your USC grant by $1,000. If your family has a higher income this year, the package will be adjusted down, and if your family has a lower income this year the package will be adjusted up in subsequent years.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, that is a one-semester university grant.</p></li>
<li><p>As polarscribe says, they generally estimate if you are eligible for Pell and Cal Grant and include it in your package. Did your SAR for the FAFSA indicate a Pell, and does your Web Grants for Students indicate you have been awarded a Cal Grant? If it does turn out that you will receive those two grants, USC has already come up with your need and met it - if you have additional resources they will reduce your USC grant by the amount of those additional resources. So the result will be that you receive the same amount of aid, but the composition is a bit different.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Generally Pell grants are included in the financial aid package. But the cut off for last year was 5273, so with an EFC of 5248 I would have expected you to be eligible for a small amount of Pell based on last years cut off numbers. Somewhere around $555 for the year (half that for one semester).</p>
<p>Did you meet the March 2 deadline for Calgrant? Are you eligible for it (California resident, income within the guidelines, assets below the cut off etc)? I am surprised they would offer the school grant without taking the cal grant into account if you are eligible for it.</p>
<p>The asset cut offs are quite low for calgrant eligibility. Around $60,000.</p>