USC Financial Aid

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
101

<p>A Pell of $1,300 per FAFSA? Your numbers don’t add up. You mention a FAFSA EFC of $13K, which sounds about right for an income of $70,000. EFC’s over $5,273 do not qualify for any Pell Grant. Were you talking about USC’s calculated family contribution when you mentioned $13K?</p>

<p>If so, then your package makes sense:</p>

<p>USC COA $56,000

  • Trustee $42,000
  • Student contribution from summer earnings $3,000</p>

<p>= $11,000, which is less than your family contribution of $13,000.</p>

<p>Both the Trustee and Cal Grant are tuition-only grants - in some cases they will convert a small portion of the Trustee to non-tuition purposes, but it may be that they think you may not qualify for Cal Grant for some reason - call them up and ask if you will receive Cal Grant. (Cal Grant is $9,708 at USC, but USC has no say in whether it is awarded - the California Student Aid Commission has complete authority.)</p>

<p>For a Pell of $1,300, your FAFSA EFC would have to be between $4,201 and $4,300 - is that correct? The Pell is not restricted to tuition, so call USC to ask about that - have you received any notice from FAFSA about a correction to your FAFSA by a school?</p>

<p>Did you check to see if any additional documentation is required for your parents’ income and assests? If they have asked for documentation and it has not been submitted you will only receive merit aid.</p>

<p>If the Viterbi award is a research stipend and not a scholarship, you should receive the full amount but there may be a research proposal that must be submitted. If it is a scholarship, it may be reduced to $2,500 to comply with USC’s maximums regarding combining merit scholarships.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/P1003PellPaymentSchedules.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/P1003PellPaymentSchedules.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

102

<p>Yes I’ve done all the steps mentioned… I tried to call them up, but they won’t respond. I sent them an email explaining my situation. Thank you! Is this decision final though? I haven’t yet received a email…</p>

103

<p>Apparently I was missing documents but I already submitted all of them months ago. I received no email whatsoever and I didn’t find out until I called them. This is unfair I have to wait another 2 weeks when I never submitted anything late.</p>

104

<p>Can anyone expand on how they paid for his/child’s education at USC who are middle class or lower class? I know they meet 100% need, but I’m worried my aid package (not available yet) will be ridden with loans and thus not possible for me to attend.</p>

105

<p>Whom exactly (title/dept.) do we call to see why we don’t have letter/email, or online posting of fin. aid package? Do we call financial aid? Or do we call her admissions officer for her region? Hint. D won’t get need based money…only merit if offered. </p>

<p>I’m going to give it through Monday, to see if we get notice. But now we’re down to under 3 weeks to make the decision. Need to know if there will be a package.</p>

106

<p>MitchKreyben- you can call (213) 740-1111, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. PST (M-F). Listen to the options and select speak with a financial counselor then option 2 (I believe) which is I have already submitted my docs and have questions. Good luck !</p>

107

<p>Hey alamemom,</p>

<p>I’m still preparing my financial aid appeal case (it’s got many layers, levels and circumstances) and I just found out today that my dad made a LOT more money than usual in 2010 because he was working overtime almost week because his employer didn’t have a backup man to turn to. His company finally hired the backup guy late last year and he will not make nearly as much money this year because he now has an assistant. Is this a worthy circumstance to add to my case?</p>

108

<p>I am a former USC student being readmitted after many years away and I have a question about how the financial aid works with off-campus housing. Will I have funds to pay for rent for an apartment that isn’t USC owned? I think my EFC will only be around $7K.</p>

<p>Or, does USC reduce the COA by $12K (room and board) and base the package on the remaining costs?</p>

<p>Being able to afford housing is the key to whether I stay at Univ. of Hawaii or go back to USC, so any advice would be great.</p>

<p>Fight On!</p>

<p>btw, if you know anyone who attended USC and left by their own decision (not academic disq.) and they wish they could return, tell them to try. USC takes care of their own and is very understanding if you ask for help to come back.</p>

109

<p>sydney, it never hurts to ask :slight_smile: . In most cases, your fiancial aid for a school year will be based on the prior year’s income, so your 2011-2012 package will be based on your dad’s 2010 income, and the 2012-2013 package will reflect the lower income for 2011 that your dad anticipates. In general, current school year financial aid adjustments are not based on current year changes in income.</p>

<p>larry, CONGRATULATIONS, and welcome back! No, USC will not reduce the COA if you live off-campus. They use the same estimates for students who live off-campus as for those who live on-campus. If your total aid exceeds the amount billed by USC for tuition and fees, they will issue you a check for the excess or you can have it deposited directly to your bank account by filling out a form.</p>

110

<p>Thanks alamemom! That is awesome! USC is so amazing. </p>

<p>I have been reading these threads for months and you have always given great information. I really appreciate your help.</p>

111

<p>Still nothing, Spring admit-but still? I was asked to submit lots of extra stuff due my dad’s work change last year. It’s all been submitted but my online status shows they still need documents. :/</p>

<p>My sister didn’t get asked for any documents, and she still has no aid package up. Neither of us received any emails. And nothing in the junk mail folders - I just checked. Lots of other interesting stuff, but no FA info. :(</p>

112

<p>FWIW, I called USC’s finaid office on Friday and was told that my D’s pkg will be ready by middle of this week. I will be happy to get the bottom line — be it good, bad or ugly ;)</p>

113

<p>mommylaw. thx good to know we’re not the only one’s waiting. I was beginning to wonder.</p>

114

<p>We are still waiting to hear back from USC regarding our package too. All of the docs are in and the site still says Access Denied and information is not ready. We are still trying to be paitent.
This is rough!!!</p>

115

<p>My parents can’t figure this out. Also, they can’t afford USC, since my going there would cost about 1/2 their yearly income. They say that USC sneakily defines EFC as whatever’s leftover after they award you whatever they decide to award you, rather than how it’s defined by other schools: what it has been decided your family can reasonably afford. Who can afford half the family income?? I still sorta wanna go to USC, though. Has anyone ever had any luck appealing the award?</p>

116

<p>I am going to put a plug in here for the Financial Aid Officers. I felt my son’s EFC was entirely fair. It was within $500 of the other EFC from a compatible university. If your’s looks way off, by all means, ask about it. Perhaps they were missing a key piece of information. Good luck!</p>

117

<p>Our USC EFC is 12% higher than what the Profile calculated (yes the Profile, not the FAFSA). There is nothing in our income or assets that were not included on the Profile. We are appealing. Does anyone have any knowledge how USC could have calculated such a higher EFC? And have they had success in appealing? thanks</p>

118

<p>nolanola, Have you received a financial aid award from Harvard? Or only an esitimate from an online calculator? If you have an offer from Harvard in-hand, then it would be a good idea for one of your parents to call USC and ask what went into figuring your expected contribution at USC. Mention that you have another need-based offer using the CSS/Profile that differs significantly and have that offer on hand to discuss.</p>

<p>Harvard is a no-loan school for some income levels, so the package will differ by the $5,500 Stafford loan in any case, but if you have a very large additional difference it would be worth asking.</p>

<p>If you are just basing your “USC EFC = DOUBLE Harvard’s?!” on estimates from Harvards calculators and did not receive a financial aid award, that would not be useful in a discussion of an actual need-based package.</p>

<p>growuptoofast, the CSS/Profile does not generate an EFC, because each of the over 300 schools that use it have their own calculation which they apply to the information. The “EFC” you have from the College Board site is just an average of the over 300 schools results and does not reflect what you will be expected to contribute at any specific school.</p>

119

<p>Alamemom: No, not the calculator (I didn’t know there was one. Is there one for USC?). I got my financial aid package from Harvard in the mail the other day. To go there, I’d have to pay exactly half of what I’d have to pay to go to USC. And some of my financial aid at USC was loans, but at Harvard I’d have no loans at all. My mom called USC to ask about it and they essentially blew her off and said it was what it was. She said she felt bad just for asking. I don’t know what’s up with them. They say they do the 100% of need thing, but if their idea of EFC is just what’s leftover after they give you whatever they decide to give you, then it’s just a lie. But apparently you can appeal. I just don’t know if it’s worth the trouble now.</p>

120

<p>Do you qualify for Harvard’s no more than 10% income policy? (It’s technically 10% with ‘normal’ assets - which really isn’t defined well.) I haven’t seen my USC package so I can’t compare it to the FAFSA, but Harvard’s policies would / should be much below what the FAFSA asks for me. (I don’t know what it might be though, because I’m on the waiting list.)</p>