<p>Also, if you KNOW you’re getting some funds (like S gets a NM scholarship every semester), you can talk with them & they can temporarily reduce your balance by the amount you’re expected to get so when it comes in it will balance out. If they don’t do that, your kid will have a credit balance if you pay the entire outstanding balance before your child’s additional credits appear.</p>
<p>One way to ease things is consider the payment plan option. It costs only $40/semester & allows payments to be spread over 5 months instead of having to pay the lump sum NOW. The student’s account is creditted NOW as if all payments have been made. You can pay every month, have it automatically deducted from your checking account or charged on your credit card each month, all at no extra charge. We have it posted on our credit card so we get a few points toward free flights (hey, every little bit helps).</p>
<p>More info available here: [USC-FBS</a> - sfs - Payment Plan](<a href=“Student Financial Services”>Student Financial Services)</p>
<p>We’ve been happy with this plan & have used it for many semesters now. It is slightly less useful when the kids are not having their housing & food charged to their USC account, since then there are more different bills from varied sources.</p>