<p>Hello, I am an international applicant and I plan to apply USC this year. I learn that USC does not provide need-based financial aid for international students, but my family can only contribute around 30,000$ each year (the cost of USC is around 64,000$). The only support provided by USC for international students is the merit scholarship, and I need to know whether they can provide me 35,000$ each year. Does anyone know about the average merit scholarship (the December 1st deadline scholarship) received by international students of the previous years? </p>
<p>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>I would call/email/skype the admissions office about that one. Also, this will depend on what level of degree you’re applying for - undergrad, master’s, doctorate, etc. Those programs all have different funding structures. Depending on the degree, debt would be more tolerable if you were doing, for example, a 2 year master’s in engineering than if you were doing a doctorate in fine arts.</p>
<p>First - there is no automatic merit aid regardless of how high your scores and grades are. USC selects the students they are interested in, and then invites them to interview. So don’t count on getting it. Not everyone who qualifies does get it. And therefore there is no way to say what the “average” merit aid is for an international student. Those numbers aren’t posted. And many of the merit aid scholarships go to U.S. students as well. So the total “number” doesn’t reveal how the awards break out (U.S. vs. International). I do know that a lot of international students pay the full tuition.</p>