<p>If I have a sizable (30k) scholarship being offered by another University, could I use it as leverage at USC in order to get more financial aid? My parent's cannot afford the full cost, and I'm not sure how much financial aid we will get out of the FAFSA and CSS profile, but it's where I really want to go. If the only thing stopping me from attending USC is that factor would they be able to give me more money?</p>
<p>USC will use the CSS/Profile and the FAFSA to determine your need. (I assume you have submitted both by the February 2nd deadline.) They guarantee to meet 100% of USC-determined need. Stafford loans and federal work/study are typically part of their packages. USC does not offer to match offers made by other universities. You can always ask for them to review your financial aid if you do not feel it meets your need.</p>
<p>They would not be likely to increase a *need-based award *to match *a merit-based award *from another university, but you can always ask.</p>
<p>If you are a NMS and name USC as your 1st choice by the deadline, they will give you a 1/2 tuition scholarship of approximately $20,000/year.</p>
<p>(All of the above applies to the University of Southern California. If you are asking about the other USC, please disregard.)</p>
<p>Is the scholarship $30k per year? Is it an National Merit scholarship? or something like that? What are your stats?</p>
<p>If the scholarship that you have is from a lesser university, then it probably won’t make a difference to USC.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind, a scholarship won’t reduce your parents’ EFC if the scholarship amount is within the amount of financial aid.</p>
<p>For instance…USC costs $55k
if your EFC is - say - $25k
then you’ll have a need of $30k (which USC would cover with grants and such)</p>
<p>If you were to get a scholarship, then USC would apply the scholarship towards that $30k need. USC wouldn’t apply it to the EFC.</p>
<p>USC does meet 100% of need, so if your concern is that your parents can’t pay their EFC, then that is a different problem which requires HUGE merit.</p>
<p>(Talking about USC in Calif, I’m guessing.)</p>
<p>Just to clarify, USC meets 100% of USC-determined need. They use both the CSS/Profile and the FAFSA to come up with the USC-determined need, so the amount you and your family are expected to contribute may differ from your FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>Federal aid (Pell, Stafford loans, federal work/study, etc.) are distributed using the FAFSA, while the CSS/Profile is used to distribute USC grants.</p>
<p>True…good point!</p>