Hi everyone,
I’m accepted and am planning to go to USC, but have not signed up for financial aid yet. Does anyone know how generous they are with aid? I’d appreciate if any other people who have received their FA packages (or already attend USC) could tell me about their experience and how they have fared financially after submitting CSS to USC. I would guess that my family income is in the 120k-200k range. Should I submit a FAFSA/CSS right now? Will I get any aid? (Based on the USC NPC, I got nothing, but the metrics that calculator uses are outdated)
If you wanted to be considered for or need financial aid, you should have already sent in the FASFA and CCS profile.
USC FASFA deadline:
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after October 1, 2019, but no later than March 2, 2020. Submit the application at fafsa.gov. Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) for the most efficient processing. USC’s Federal School Code is 001328.
CCS profile deadline;
The CSS Profile information, along with your FAFSA information, will help determine your eligibility for USC student aid funds. Use 2018 parent and student income. Be sure to include your Social Security number. Submit as early as October 1, but no later than February 13, 2020.
Have you spoken with the people who are paying for this? Are your parents involved in any way in this college process? You don’t have a good handle of finances (120-200K?). It strikes me you needed an adult in the FA decisions. Do you have back up schools? Are you admitted to any UCs?
Yes, I have. But $80,000 a year is too much for them. I’m thinking of applying for FAFSA if I can get something.
USC requires both FASFA and the CCS profile and they determine what your EFC will be. If you ran the NPC already and you were given nothing in aid and considering it is very late in the admission process to be asking for FA now, you will most likely not get anything better than what is estimated on the NPC.
How much can your parents pay and what are your other options?
If you do not originally apply for financial aid, then USC is assuming you can pay the $80K.
Are you talking about for Fall 2020? Please tell you’re kidding…
No, I am not joking. BTW, do you have any experience with FAFSA/CSS @Xavier_Dredo ?
@repaihe23r1ivers: I am sure @Xavier_Dredo was being rhetorical in his post.
You can contact the financial aid office at USC and find out if they will accept the FASFA and CCS profile at this late date and I am sure they are going to ask you why did not fill out the financial aid information during the application process if you want to be considered for any aid and why you did not submit by the stated deadlines?
Also comparing other admitted students FA packages are useless unless they have the same income/assets etc… as your family…
I would say it is way to late for any FA consideration but please confirm with USC’s FA office.
So what other schools do you have acceptances at? How much CAN your parents pay?
I have acceptances at other schools, including other private schools like NU (also no FAFSA again) and public schools like UCSC and UCD. Did not get into my top choices UCLA and UCB (waitlist). My parents will pay a maximum of $60,000/year for college. But, if you experienced with USC aid, do you think my income bracket will get any aid?
Every income level gets the federal loans once the FAFSA is filed.
We have no way of knowing if you’ll get need based aid, only that you’ll get none if you don’t file the forms. If your parents are in the $120k income, you might get a little. If they are in the $200k+ range, it is unlikely you’ll get any, especially since you missed the priority deadline.
The issue at the moment is since you have not submitted the needed financial aid forms, will they even consider you for any aid this year, regardless of your parents income.
Unless you have a complicated financial picture, such as divorced parents, parents own their business etc… the Net price calculator can be pretty accurate.
You should be contacting USC’s financial aid office and ask these questions.
My apologies, my comment wasn’t meant to be judgmental or snarky. With 1 child in college and another starting in the Fall, I do have experience with FAFSA and CSS and you need to involve your parents ASAP if you hope to get aid. You’re probably too late for the Fall but you should at least try. It will make filling out the forms for 2021 easier
When our son was accepted to USC, he automatically received ½ tuition reduction as a NMF. It was still too much, given that housing plus the other half of tuition was very pricey. (His sister was at a UC.)
He received better financial merit aid at all of his other schools, so he went elsewhere. (We qualified for loans, loans, and more loans, but our savings and 529 accounts were strong.)
We were involved in the financial applications when we gave him our budget, before he applied to his schools, and he filed the CSS and FAFSA apps with our copies of our taxes and finances before all of the deadlines. The HS counselors were adamant about financial aid deadlines (emails, postcards, newsletters, all calls) for all three of our children, and it was a little annoying, but we complied because we didn’t want any surprises.