Nester

Rosie -- We would all like to believe that USC does not reduce FA for continuing students, and some of us may feel a bit skeptical and wonder if the financial situations of the families of some of the posters might have improved in ways that the posters do not understand. But the notion that posters are outright lying about their FA seems a bit extreme. We have at least two posters here who are parents, presumably familiar with their own financial situations, who have posted very specific information about their Ss' losses of FA, in a.parent's case a substantial drop and in drizzit's case a less substantial but not trivial drop. The OP, who opened talking about his "friend," later said that he, himself, might not now be able to attend -- presumably he has been talking about himself. Hyakku has lost both a 10K grant and a Perkins loan.

It seems to me very unlikely that all of these students and parents, who have hardly been USC foes up to this point, are coming together to defame the university. Perhaps each and every one of them is leaving out some pertinent fact that would explain the drop in FA or is for unknown reasons fabricating the drop in FA. But to me it seems liklier that despite USC providing generous continuting FA with increases for some students, a small number of students is having a problem with continuity in their FA. I continue to hope that they will all address this with the FA office, and if their families' financial situations have remained the same or worsened, as in the case of DJS whose father took an 8% pay cut, the FA office will restore the funds.

hyakku

Update:

So I contact Fafsa and turns out theres a problem where my 2008 tax returns for my parents weren't submitted properly so on record they used the 2007 returns where my stepfather (who is my parent by federal law as I'm under my mother's custody) was working.

After this was corrected my EFC plummeted $12,000.


I thought I would be fine but when I contacted FA today they said a few changes have occurred this year

1. Student contribution is minimum of $3500. I don't have a problem with that as I was already giving money to my parents for tuition and this only raised my tuition slightly ($1000 or so)

2. In the CSS profile they are taking into account how much you paid last year. As I understood it I believe my mother misunderstood and she actually put down a figure higher than what my actual tuition bill was last year, leading them to believe that my family could contributed $10,000 OOP in addition to the loans in my package. This is obviously incorrect as my tuition was les than $10,000 after my grants, scholarships and loans. What I believe she did was include loans in the amount she contributed last year which is not what we contributed as far as I understand, but what we borrowed from lenders, which has nothing to do with the school.

3. My non custodial parent apparantly is expected to pay $5000 a year now as well, I believe the rep attributed this to child support. The only issue is once again the documents they have don't reflect my current situation, in which my father does not pay any child support anymore.

I'll continue to let you all know how this all falls into place, I don't know how unique my situation is but at least now we know some of the criteria are: Slight increase in expected student contribution, the amount you indicated your family did/will pay in 2008-2009 is a factor, and if you have a NCP they may be expected to contribute more I believe.

furyshade

they responded to my email today. apparently the main factor is that my brother graduated and, even though he is going to grad school and my family will be spending just as much on education as last year, he no longer counts into our financial aid because he is no longer an undergrad. there is also something about an "increase in my investments/assets" that we aren't sure about and my parents are looking in to what that might mean. i understand what the university is doing but it doesn't change the fact that my parents are still paying for both of us. also did the Cal grant for this year/last year show up on financial aid page because my parents filed FAFSA both years and it didn't show up on either

Tim_ND08

Rosieoney...

Really?? A Myth huh? Lies?

Come read the differences in my own personal decrease in financial aid.

They DO decrease financial aid. It has happened to all most all of my friends. And guess what, Rosieoney, my parents are the accounts of the original person i posted about, so we do know their EXACT situation and circumstances. the friend did not tell me... my parents who organized the W2 forms and income returns did.... and Im pretty sure I know my own personal situation. Its a great university but the only disservice that is happening here is to the students.

btbam91

furyshade, they don't take your brother into account anymore because traditionally, graduate students pay for their own education with no help from their parents.

furyshade

i understand that that is their policy, but it doesn't change the amount of money my family has for education which is the issue at the heart of the matter.

grey_syntactics

I'm a zero-EFC student with no home equity, investments, savings or anything fancy like that. I live with a single mother, my grandmother, and a younger sibling. My NCP left the country in order to avoid paying child support about 7 years ago. USC has legal documentation of this. I've been working since age 16, full time since 18. Obviously I won't be working full time during my time at USC (I'm an entering transfer) so my income, which constitutes 51% of my family's income, will be virtually gone.

I chose USC instead of UC Berkeley because I thought that they "met 100% of our need". In fact, the UCs recently passed the Blue & Gold plan in which I would have had my tuition waived for being in a certain income bracket. Apparently my EFC is $7000 for USC, which is unmanageable for my family and I. I submitted my appeal explaining the situation with my employment, so hopefully I'll bring some good news.

I know $7k is nothing in comparison to some of the other numbers on this board, but my family struggles a lot financially, so relatively speaking, I know exactly how you all feel. :/

I chose $31,000 debt for USC over $4,000 tops debt at UC Berkeley. I hope USC doesn't make me regret my decision.

And about Cal grants and other scholarships -- doesn't USC reduce the University grant once these other monies are factored into your award? That's kiiinda crappy...

waitingonSC

Sorry to hear that Grey. I hope the situation works out for you.

mdcissp

To Grey-Syntactics: I suggest that you talk to USC financial aid and make sure that you are satsified with the amount of financial aid being offered. $31,000. sounds like a massive amount of debt particularly during this economic down turn when jobs are harder to get.
Perhaps you might want to re-consider the Blue and Gold plan with Berkeley if USC does not meet your financial need. Both USC and Berkeley are fine schools. I am very sorry you are going through this as you sound like a very hard worker.

subandrew1

my friend is planning to take the 2nd term of summer at USC. He has always had financial aid in the past for 2 years he's been here. Will he be able to get any FA if he just recently decided to possibly take the class? Ive heard people had to apply earlier for such things, especially for summer. I've also heard from another source that USC doesnt give out financial aid during the summer. Im not sure which side is right.

uchopeful73

@grey_syntactics: to clarify, what does your "7000 efc" mean? is that after the loans (about 5.5k or more) they put in every package, or is that money they expect you to pay out of pocket (in addition to the loans)?

in my case, they put 5.5k of loans in my package, PLUS I HAVE TO PAY THE 4.5k EFC out of pocket that they think i can pay.....im also a zero efc, very low income student according to fafsa, and live in single mother household w/no asset/house/etc...i mean, they do meet 100% of need; the thing is, THEY DETERMINE OUR NEED (and sometimes, theyre just WAY OFF)

whats the blue and gold plan? in my Berkeley finan aid package, i STILL HAD 5.5K in loans with zero efc., resulting in 24k debt. (vs 40k or most likely more of debt at usc)

grey_syntactics

waitingonSC and mdcissp, thank you. I'm still optimistic.

uchopeful, I have to pay $7000 AFTER loans -- that's where I got $31,000 for 2 years (8500 federal loans + 7000 unmet EFC = 15,500/year => *2 = $31,000).

grey_syntactics

oh and for the Blue&Gold plan, I contacted FA at UCB and was told that the plan would go into effect on our student accounts in August. I thought the exact same thing when I got my FA letter, haha. I called them right away.

uchopeful73

I see. Well hopefully, theyll give you more aid since youre not going to be working as much. and if usc doesnt work out, Good luck on wherever you decide to choose....

grey_syntactics

Thanks, same to you.

Though I'm pretty much stuck, and there's no looking back. The SIR deadline for Berkeley was on June the 1st. Come on, SC!