Also, how do I lower the 70k whole price as much as possible WITHOUT loans?
Background: Single-parent household, mother makes 28k. I am the only child in the household, no job right now. The most she can contribute is probably 2-3k, and that can’t be changed. Older brother will help out with $$, makes roughly 55k in expensive urban area.
College: USC. I will be studying business with focus on California business consulting/investment banking/finance
Estimated entire cost w/cheapest housing and meal plan: 67,773
Gift aid of both university and fed(not in in loans): 54,327
Work Study: 2500
----Remaining cost is 10,946-------
Optional Fed Sub Loan: 3500 Optional UNSubsidized Loan: 2000
----ESTIMATED FINAL COST is 5446-----------
Cost of cheaper in-state: 5,000 per year without loans
Now I have many questions. I don’t want to take 5500 in loans per year, I would much rather take just the subsidized loan of 3500 per year, or even less if that is possible. So then that drives the final price up to 7446, with an estimated 14,000 in loans at graduation (of course I will work jobs to try to make it less)
And then there’s the fact that this is in need-based aid, not permanent scholarships. So I know that there will be extra costs due to “frontloading” where the grants don’t grow just as much as the rising tuition. The estimates for that are 2 to 3 percent per year?
In the end I am a bit terrified that I will enroll freshman year and then the costs will just rise astronomically as I progress into the school years, and then I’m paralyzed financially. Is USC worth it? I am also trying to appeal for an extra 4k.
LASTLY, there’s a high chance the the 28k number will increase to 31k for next year, even though that extra income is just going to pay off taxes and costs. Based on USC’s net price calculator, the average aid decrease by 4k. WHAT GIVES?
It is great you are looking at all this, shows maturity. You can go to USC for 10K a year and that is a bargain. If you don’t invest in yourself who will? The world is not free. But if the debt terrifies you, go to a less expensive option.
That level of debt is easily paid back in about 5years.
It’s likely your financial aid package will increase alongside higher costs since your efc is zero and usc meets full need.
Howeverbit’s worth appealing - do not mention your older brother and point out how 28k a year/ .$x… Net price is undoable, then list rent, utilities medical costs, any non elective debt…
There are definitely ways to cut expenses and make this affordable. Books -buy used and then resell. The personal expense amount is what you spend now anyways (cell, clothing, etc.). Lower meal plan. A small amount of debt for a good education and networking opportunities is well worth it.
Also consider that at a state school, you might not be able to graduate in 4 years.
I don’t think USC is a school that frontloads financial aid.
In all likelihood, it won’t matter - it’ll affect Pell somewhat (about $500) but you’re still EFC zero or close enough. You may have input something wrong in the NPC, as going from 28K to 31K shouldn’t increase your EFC by more than a couple hundred dollars.
10k for a USC education is a heck of a deal! All students/families are expected to contribute towards the cost of their own education. If 10k is not feasible, consider appealing financial aid decision, getting a job, or attending another school.
You can work over the summer and earn about $3000 to bring down the cost a bit. I agree with others that USC is not going to lower your grant aid with a small increase in mom’s salary you mention. If you are the strategic type (you sound like it) I believe you can find paid research/higher paying p/t jobs while in school that may earn you a bit more, as well. Some internships in business/tech pay very well, too. You need to consider if paying $20K more over 4 years (the difference in cost between public and USC) is justified by the advantages you may get graduating from USC. If you are truly cost-averse (not a bad thing to be, btw), take the less expensive option. If there is a great difference in the quality of universities, take USC.
Keep in mind that your odds of graduating in 4 years are higher at USC than at a UC, so if you add an extra year at the public university (very likely) that advantage vanishes.
Can you work and use the money toward college, or does your mother expect you to give her the money you earn to help the family out?
Congratulations on your hard work and accomplishments. Those are NOT easy colleges to get into and thousands of students are green with envy at this moment!
Since you are asking if USC is worth that per year, do you know anything about it? Do you want to go or did you just toss your application there? Will you have travel expenses? Sorry, but it comes off a little ungrateful for all you are being given for any of these schools. You should really work as others suggested to pay for some of your school no matter what school you choose.
$5k parent EFC does seem high for an income of only $28k. I think your brother’s income (the fact that he contributes $ to the home) is what’s pushing it up.
Keep in mind that you won’t have work study money to pay the bill up front. So your net cost is more like $13.5k.
After Stafford loan, you get a price of $8k. With your mom’s contribution of $2k, net price is $6k. If you work full time during the summer, net price becomes $3k. At this point, the bill is paid.
With work study to fund personal expenses + living frugally, this should be doable.
Finding a full-time job during the summer is essential to making this work. If for some reason you can’t earn the full $3k to pay the bill (don’t get enough work hrs or something) or your mom can’t pay her $2k, would your brother be willing to help out?
My understanding is that there’s no family contribution but a STUDENT contribution of about 5k, which can be used toward personal expenses (direct costs are already covered) and can be a summer job.
I agree that if OP can graduate with $20,000 in loans, that is not as paralyzingly as many posts on CC but the annual cost of attendance at USC looks like a bargain, remember his mom makes $28l per year. His annual net cost of $11,000 is over a third of her income.
Op: have you appealed your package ? Check everything. Do not include your brother’s salary, only your mother (your brother is not a guardian). Pm if you want edits on tour wording.
OP, what are your instate options?
Especially if you’re considering pursuing ibanking/mgmt. consulting you need to maximize your chances by going to a school with strong OCR (which USC does fulfill, atleast regionally).
A solid junior year internship with a BB can net upwards of 15k for the whole 10 week duration. Some kids take debt in excess of 100k to attend target schools, which I admit is pretty ludicrous.
Echoing some of the posters above, the best investment you can make is investing in yourself.
My D was interested as several students from her school go there and have written how much fun it is etc. She was accepted by the FA was awful. Only NYU’s package was as bad. She won’t be attending as it would have cost us $35k more a year to go there than Amherst or Wesleyan.