I don’t think they use the FAFSA, which is the problem for us apparently, because the FAFSA says we can pay 22,500.
I did call the FA office to get more clarity. In our case, he actually quoted me the difference between our “federal” EFC and their calculated number so I know they see both. They best understanding I could come up with is that they calculate our capacity to borrow and pay over time (like the 10 year term of a Parent Plus loan) instead of a straight annual cash capacity. I became pretty debt averse during the last recession and so we probably have more capacity to borrow than many with the same (modest) income and assets. Just like you, we were fine with our FAFSA EFC number. One small bit of good news, I asked if outside scholarships would reduce the small grant portion of her aid (the rest is merit) and was told no, that because of the $35k difference between the federal and USC determined EFC that she could get a “ton” of outside scholarships before it would impact the grant.
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Our FA summary from USC has the majority of gift aid in the form of a University Grant (based on our income, assets, etc.). Can we be assured that these funds will be available to us for the next 3 years as well (pending no or little change in our income levels, assets, etc.?) In short, if our EFC doesn’t change much. It’s over 50K in grants so obviously this is crucial for us to have the reassurance before my S accepts as a freshman. TIA!
My son was accepted into USC and UCLA in 2021. Marshall for USC and Business Econ for UCLA. He has greatly benefitted from attending USC with regards to the resources available to get internships, small class sizes to connect with professors, alumni network, and the benefit of having USC on your resume. USC undergrad is half the size of UCLA, and there were no strikes or class disruptions like his friends experienced at the UCs this year. My friend had two daughters at UCLA and USC and when I asked her opinion she said there was no comparison between her kids’ experiences at the two schools. At UCLA you’re basically on your own to get internships, jobs etc since it is so big. My son has found so many opportunities and help at USC so he definitely made the right choice.
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No, there wasn’t a graduate student strike at USC last year. However…
The LA Times article is behind a paywall. Yahoo has the same article on their website.
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My last kid to attend USC graduated in 2016, so I don’t know if things have changed since then. As I recall, the FA was fairly consistent from year to year. The one thing that did change is that the amount that our kid was expected to take in student loans got greater each year.
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Does anyone know how to access your USC email? The FA page says that updates will be sent though the email but provides no info on accessing that email.
Also - has anyone received the Dean’s scholarship or another USC scholarship on here? I’m starting to think I probably didn’t get a scholarship 
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I heard about this but as you mentioned there were no disruptions that affected students. My son’s friends at Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Irvine didn’t have in person classes for over a month and then didn’t have finals in some classes because of the strike by TAs. Since some of them have classes with over 1,000 students (!) the learning really takes place in the TA discussion groups. These are not GE classes either since they are sophomores. Such a different experience at USC.
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Are you talking about CS 61A at Cal? If so, it is up to over 2000 now.
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My daughter may plan to transfer back to usc. Does anyone know when usc will give ttp seminar?
It probably is since his friend is a data science major. He said there were over 100 TAs for the class so if it has 2000 students that would make sense.
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That class is shocking. Sent to my CS majors and told them they can thank us again for the USC education. I remember some of their upper level classes having just 6-10 students, and boy did they learn stuff, in addition to having great relationships with the profs.
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Yes… assuming that your income / assets / liabilities remain fairly constant, you can count on their generosity in terms of grants to remain consistent as well. In fact, they will raise it most likely to account for tuition and other cost to attend factor increases too.
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They look at FAFSA, CSS and whatever else they can get their hands on or think to request until they are content that they have a full understanding of an admitted applicant’s family financial scenario. Then they generate their own unique USC EFC. When disparities arise between your projected ability to pay versus their accounting of your USC EFC, I would just make sure that you actually listed every known or projected liability and every projected monthly / yearly expense moving forward. Maybe even look back over the past 12 months, to make sure nothing was missed. List everything. They should be aware of every recurring monthly or yearly expense… including every housing expense, food, car payments, car insurance payments, medical and insurance premiums, etc. Any extra potential relief from the cost of attending for a family will come via an analysis of income, assets, liabilities and the like. So, just make sure that they fully understand your family’s financial condition now and projected moving forward before you abandon all hope. I suggest looking through the list of possible forms within the FAST portal that could be completed and uploaded. I recall there being one that details monthly expenses. Maybe one or more of them will help to clarify things or help you to think of things to share with them further. Hopefully your CSS review and appeal process will garner some relief for your family. Good luck…
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Thank you! I will look at the list of forms. That’s a great idea. I didn’t know I could list all those things, and I believe they have a very skewed view of who we are. That would seem to be apparent to me because of the gulf between the FAFSA EFC and USC EFC. I’ll see what I can try. My son is, as a matter of course, moving on and treating this as a no from USC. If it so happens that more information results in a drastically different offer, that will be a very cool surprise! I appreciate your help and ideas.
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Just thinking that since they already told you over the phone that an appeal would likely not yield different results, I think it is good your son is keeping even about this and moving on, otherwise it’s such a pull at the emotions.
There’s a lot of expenses that do not help because they are a choice made, not a mandatory expense and they would likely just give you more loans if any adjustment were to be made. Wish you luck, but keep your son from getting overly invested - it’s too hard on them and you don’t want them feeling like they are attending their B choice more than they already do.
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You’re welcome. It’s worth giving it a shot. If nothing else, you should at least want to have the FA offering be based on an accurate assessment of your family’s financial condition. Good luck…
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Does anyone know if spring admits with Presidential Scholarship are eligible for the McCarthy housing? Thanks
By description… yes.
Per USC… “The McCarthy Honors College is a unique living and learning environment for freshman honors students holding either the Mork Family, Stamps Leadership, Trustee or Presidential scholarships.”
So, assuming availability, it should be an option, even for Spring admits.
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But would there be availability for Spring admits? I think it fills with Fall admits, and I doubt many freshman study abroad/take a leave of absence their first year, so there many be few (or zero) spots available.
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