<p>
USC does not “claim to cover all costs.” They calculate your need using the CSS/Profile - from BOTH your parents - and award aid that includes Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans, Federal work/study and a summer earnings expectation from the student. USC’s expected contribution is more than the FAFSA EFC for the rest of us as well.
Divorce agreements do not effect financial aid calculations. If they did, all divorce agreements for both parties would state that neither will pay for college. Then we could ALL get divorced and we would ALL get FREE college. Your need calculation has nothing to do with how much your parents are willing to pay or how they have agreed to divide expenses - they have to do with the information on your FAFSA and CSS/Profile, and the CSS/Profile asks about custodial and non-custodial parents. If you do not wish to have your non-custodial parent information considered, then you need to apply to FAFSA-only schools.
You seem to think the rest of us are dipping into our barrels of money to pay our expected contributions. (And for some, that expected contribution is $55,500) Every one of us is staring at the bill, shell-shocked. Financial aid is not meant to make college affordable - it is meant to make college *possible *- with sacrifice, penny-pinching and cutting back on everything. Most of us take a moment or two to be grateful for the aid we are given that makes it possible, rather than posting “outrage” at being handed $40,000. </p>
<p>Your options are:</p>
<p>-Take the offer from Claremont. You say it is superior to the offer from USC - why are you not jumping at it? I already know the answer - you prefer USC. USC costs more, so you have to decide if you are going to pay the higher price for the school you prefer, or accept the great offer from a perfectly acceptable school. Each school uses their own formula to calculate need, and in your case the Claremont formula favors you. </p>
<p>-Your parents can apply for PLUS loans (either of them). If they are turned down, you are eligible for another $4,000 in Stafford unsubs. That plus a summer job should cover your shortfall.</p>
<p>THAT is what the rest of us do when the school we prefer costs more than the school we can afford. We have already seen what you do.</p>