<p>For those who don't know, USC limits the number of hours students can take to 18 hours and charges $1400 per hour for any classes over this. Isn't this just a way for the university to exploit students who are already paying an exorbitant tuition rate? You really don't see any of USC's peer institutions, including UCLA, enforcing something like this. The more time I spend here the more I get the impression USC cares more about its profit margins than the education of its students. </p>
<p>USC does not “limit” students to 18 units, in fact students may take up to 20 units per semester without special permission. But as you say, there is an additional charge for units over 18. [Schedule</a> of Classes: Spring 2014: General Registration Information: Enrollment/Registration](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/academics/classes/term_20141/reg_info/]Schedule”>http://www.usc.edu/academics/classes/term_20141/reg_info/) Please note that USC recommends that students do NOT take more than 18 units (USC recommends 16 units per semester) to promote academic success rather than student overload.</p>
<p>For students on financial aid, aid cannot be applied to or increased for those additional units - they must be paid out-of-pocket.</p>
<p>Two possibilities to pay for the extra units:</p>
<p>2) Presidential, Trustee, Mork and Stamps scholarship awardees may use [USC</a> - Mork, Presidential, Trustee Scholars: Exceptional Funding](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif/funding.htm]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprograms/aif/funding.htm) to pay for up to 8 units (Presidential scholars receive 1/2 payment for those units while the others receive full payment). The 8 units may be taken 2 units at a time during Fall and Spring or they may be taken as 1 to 8 units during the summer.</p>
<p>As for UCLA, it is a public university partially funded by taxpayers. Yes, it costs less than a private university. Perhaps it would be more meaningful if you researched the policies of similar private universities for your comparison.</p>
No, I do not know how long it has been available. I first became aware of Exceptional Funding for Trustee and Presidential Scholars in 2008 (and it was not new then) so all I can say is that it has been available for 6 or more years.</p>
<p>The Academic Achievement Award, however, first became available in the 2009-2010 academic year, so it is relatively new.</p>
<p>scdude you seem offended by this policy of paying for outsized use of the facilities and imply that it’s part of some bigger strategy on SC’s part to separate you from as much cash as possible. My thoughts? </p>
<p>1) From what I can tell the vast majority of students have no issue with the credit limit; they seem to have no problem meeting graduation requirements as well as exploring other subjects while staying within the hours guidelines. To RandomNewGuy’s point, most people would find more than 18 credit hours an onerous workload. So my first reaction is that you’re a non-representative outlier. </p>
<p>2) Ignoring whether you’re an outlier on not, did the policy change since you matriculated? It seems to me that if the issue of taking “extra” credits was so important, you should have done a better job researching the situation before deciding on a school. I seriously doubt that any of the policies you view as “profiteering” are new since you started at SC. So my second thought is that you did a poor job researching and insuring that USC was the ‘perfect’ situation for you.</p>
<p>3) My final thought is a simple one - If you’re unhappy at SC then leave. If you feel that the other schools you cite are ‘doing it better’ then transfer. You’re paying too much money and expending too much energy on your education to feel that the ‘institution’ is working against you. Just remember that there are plenty of students at SC who are perfectly happy with their experience. If you decide to transfer, I suggest a) extensively researching the issues you care about and b) don’t be surprised that other schools might have policies you find offensive.</p>
<p>I just don’t know how anyone can balance more than 18 credits, a job, extracurriculars and a personal life. I am taking 17 credits next semester, I work 10 hours per week on campus and I have another 8 hours of learning lab hours… plus a significant other. I’d probably have a panic attack at 22 credits.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response, vinceh! Definitely some interesting thoughts. The way I see it, the issue has nothing to do with how many students care about the tuition policy (and I, for one, know quite a few who do care), but rather with how much additional cost the university faces in comparison to how much it charges beyond the flat tuition rate. (i.e just because most Americans don’t care about health care policy doesn’t mean its unworthy of being addressed.) The comparison with those other universities seems to indicate that perhaps there is some disparity here, however there are obviously various other factors involved. </p>
<p>For the most part, I am happy with my education here and don’t plan on transferring. I know I came off somewhat vitriolic in the original post, but I definitely don’t see this as an issue that has discolored my overall impression of USC and my main reasons for coming here. </p>
<p>@RandomNewGuy Yeah I know what you mean, but I don’t have a job and I’m really only looking to take a sport or an internship credit. I’d probably have a panic attack at 22 credits too.</p>
<p>The funding for trustee scholars to take extra credits has been available at least since 2006, but not sure when it started. Our S never took more than 18 credits and entered with 60 credits. He graduated with significantly more credits than he needed. He could have graduated early but enjoyed his years at USC and did internships, research and helped write papers for professional journals. We feel those helped him get nice job offers that he received.</p>
<p>Some schools play division 1 sports others play no sports. Every employer has different vacation, pay and illness policies. Two different stores can have vastly different return policies. Auto companies all sell transportation but a Ferrari costs vastly more than a Kia. It is/was incumbent on you, the buyer, to decide what’s the best product for you to purchase. USC doesn’t hide this policy from anyone; it’s not up to them to match other schools. If this issue was so important to you then the onus was on you to research and find those schools that better met your needs. SC’s policies are what they are; what other schools do or don’t do regarding any issue is relevant only when you are making your decision to ‘purchase’.</p>
<p>Herein lies the problem with your argument: you’re looking at education as a commodity. To perceive education as a commodity (as if it were a car or a suit) is to construe democracy as a freedom of the market instead of a freedom of the mind. Universities are not just corporations; they exist to serve a political and economic order. Therefore, universities–public and private–have obligations and expectations that extend beyond the profits they turn over.</p>
<p>Furthermore, like I said before, the issue has nothing to do with me or any of the students here because it exists within the university and would exist even had I not chosen to come here. To assert that I should have researched USC is meaningless because this specific issue exists independent of myself or any other student. How much I, or anyone else, care is totally irrelevant to the validity or ‘fairness’ of the policy.</p>
<p>The hitch in your argument, scdude37, is that there are free and /or cheap ways to get additional units if you feel you need them so your perception of a great injustice seems off base.</p>
<p>First, USC will let students take two more units (for a total of 20 per semester) in Spring or Fall for free (via the Academic Achievement award linked above) if they demonstrate two things:
that academically they are likely to be able to handle a heavy course load and
that they need the units to complete their major-major or major-minor combination</p>
<p>If you feel you are having difficulty achieving your degree objectives while taking 18 units per semester, you should immediately meet with your adviser to be sure you are taking the necessary courses to do so. Most USC degrees require 128 units (Arch requires more, but the program is 5 years so it shouldn’t be a problem), so 18 per semester (18X8=144) should be sufficient.</p>
<p>In what way is it “unfair?” That the costs, prices and policies vary university-to-university is clear and no one university is under an obligation to match the costs/price/policies of another university. Are you saying that ALL universities should follow the exact same policies and charge the exact same prices, and if so, which university would you designate as the one that all others would be forced to emulate?</p>
<p>You asked for thoughts, so here’s mine.
A relevant saying is ‘put your money where your mouth is.’ 18 units is a lot, but if a student can take more then why would they not sign up for popular classes, such as Film Symposium, which takes a coveted spot away from someone else. For every seat taken, there’s a potential loss to another student. Therefore I think the policy is fair to have people financially commit to taking a class if they’re going to go beyond 18 units. There’s already enough students who take an elective class with good intentions yet stop going after week 2, forget to drop, and end up with an F or MG. Keep in mind high-achieving students can get funding. This allows students who merit taking more units to do so without shelling more out. </p>
<p>I don’t want to comment on the points about whether education is or is not a commodity except to concede education can be viewed as a freedom of the mind, but a university has no obligation to provide it to anyone. Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I would disagree if the argument follows the same reasoning that food is a universal human right, therefore I can walk onto a farm and take food.</p>
<p>USC is “a California not-for-profit corporation” and an officer involved in university finances told me that the cost per student expenses of the university are significantly greater than the revenues per student (most of which is tuition).</p>