<p>USC doesn’t “gap” students. USC applies the same calculation using the CSS/Profile to all students and awards aid accordingly.
Can you please link several of the examples you cite of students who received more need-based aid from every other to which they applied? I wouild be very interested to see the many links. Thank you.</p>
<p>USC doesn’t give scholarships in excess of the total tuition cost.</p>
<p>In our experience, USC was the only school that did NOT leave us with a gap.</p>
<p>Alemom - If all schools using the CSS profile determined a family’s need identically, then the financial aid packages from all of these schools would be roughly similar. However, that is not the case. To see just how wide a range of need-based aid can be given by CSS-profile schools based on the exact same financial data, go on collegeboard.com to their new section containing “Net Price Calculators.” In Fall of this year, every school will be required to provide such a calculator on its website to show prospective students how much aid they would likely receive at that particular school. I ran this experiment myself and found that the same family could receive need-based grants ranging from about $13,000 to about $23,000 from different private colleges with roughly the same cost of attendance. Several plausible explanations for the differences include 1) schools with higher endowments are giving more grant aid; 2) schools are still considering merit to some degree in awarding need-based aid; and 3) schools that give a lot of merit aid are giving less in need-based grant and making up the difference with loans. </p>
<pre><code> Which brings me to a second point – although a financial aid package may not technically be “gapping” a family where it covers their demonstrated need, if that package is comprised primarily or exclusively of loans rather than grants, then the result may be the same. Many families are not willing or able to incur tens of thousands of dollars in debt in order for their child to attend college.
Third, I misspoke when I said that "many" of the students who could not afford to attend USC received higher grant aid from every other school. I apologize for that. In fact, I know of several students in our community for whom that is the case. However, my information is admittedly only anecdotal. As Memama indicated, just the opposite may be the case for some families. So, if I suggested that USC is low-balling on financial aid in every case, that clearly is not true.
Finally, in response to Hawkwings -- yes, in fact, USC does give merit aid in excess of the cost of tuition. It is possible to stack scholarships (e.g. Trustee and Tuition Exchange) up to a maximum of $8000 over the cost of tuition.
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<p>Indeed, the 300+ schools that use the CSS/Profile to distribute their own funds are free to do the calculations in any way they choose, which is something I have posted on this forum over and over and over. Again, USC does not “gap,” they claculate a students need using a uniform calculation for all students and then meet that need. USC is under no obligation to use another school’s calculation method. Please bear in mind that the majority of those other 300+ schools that use the CSS/Profile do not meet need. USC does.
Have you received a USC need-based financial aid package from USC? USC packages a subsidized Stafford ($3,500 frosh, $4,500 soph, and $5,500 each jr and sr years - see page 1 of the FAQ thread) and a Stafford unsubsidized loan of $2,000 in the need-based packages. Parent Plus and other loans are NEVER included as part of the need-based aid. Once again I ask that you link me any examples of a USC need-based financial aid package that included more than those loan amounts in meeting the USC-determined need. Or are you talking about the need-based packages of other schools?</p>
<p>As far as calculating how much aid to expect at USC, it is not difficult or mysterious. USC uses an across-the-board calculation for all students. In 2009, I started the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/839970-faq-usc-financial-aid-2010-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/839970-faq-usc-financial-aid-2010-a.html</a> and posted simple instructions to get a very rough idea of the amount USC will expect you to contribute. I have re-posted those instructions dozens and dozens of times on that thread and on many others, so if any College Confidential users were surprised by their package, it was because they chose not to do the calculation.</p>
<p>The very rough estimate method: Take any assets protected by the *simplified needs test *and any home equity (up to two times your gross income) and multiply those figures by 5.6%. Add that amount to your FAFSA EFC. That is a very rough estimate of your contribution at USC. You can also use the CollegeBoard calculators which will give you a similar amount. See page one of the FAQ thread for details.</p>
<p>I do not mind at all if posters wish to complain about the aid they received at USC, as long as they support those complaints with real information. What I object to are sweeping condemnations with absolutely no support, such as saying that USC presents need-based packages comprised entirely of loans. The only time that would happen is when the USC-determined need is $5,500 or less, because that is the size of a freshman-year need-based loan.</p>
<p>Alamemom,
You clearly have a handle on how this all works, and we appreciate you passing along the knowledge. We do benefit from it. However I don’t think Steverino was being negative, nor questioning your approach. That is why i was surprised to read you saying this:
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<p>Are you impatient with us for not having found other posts in the forum where you have presented this information in the past? Clearly it’s hard to find all of the data in various threads.</p>
<p>No, I was trying to point out that the information is available, not only from official USC sources such as the USC Financial aid website, but from dozens and dozens of posts here on College Confidential. </p>
<p>As you say, the supported, correct information become lost in all of the unsupported, incorrect information that gets posted by people who do not look for facts or include links or references. Yes, I become impatient and frustrated with those posts and feel as though I am wasting my time.</p>
<p>For a tiny peak at my frustration, here is a quick search of recent posts where I discussed the details of how the CSS/Profile is used at USC: [College</a> Confidential - Search Results](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=29916607&pp=15]College”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=29916607&pp=15)</p>
<p>I can *only *show you posts for the last few months, because searches are limited to *TWO HUNDRED *results, and so it only goes back to February. If it is impossible to find any of those *TWO HUNDRED *posts on this forum since February, then I truly am wasting my time.</p>
<p>I received the Trustee scholarship from USC, but before the scholarship was credited to my financial aid report, USC met my financial need just as any other school had to make it affordable, and we are lower-middle class. Fortunately we don’t have to worry about that! 
However, I think that if you have the need, USC will cover the difference. You just have to be realistic in knowing what your need is.</p>
<p>And alamemom, thank you SO much for all of your help! It really is appreciated - you’ve helped many of us decide to become Trojans. :)</p>
<p>Alemom – Please do not get impatient or defensive merely because I have questioned the choices USC makes about how to distribute merit vs. need-based aid. USC is a terrific school and we are thrilled that our son will be attending in the fall. We are also enormously grateful for the merit aid we have received. And we understand USC’s motivation (and that of other schools) for using merit aid to attract high-performing students. This practice is certainly widespread and is fueled by the pressure to compete in the US News rankings. </p>
<pre><code> However, the fact is that when a school chooses to devote a significant portion of its resources to merit aid, there is less money available for need-based aid. And as USC’s applicant pool has become more competitive, the difference in academic credentials between those who receive merit aid and those who do not has become less significant. Regardless of whether USC meets 100% of demonstrated need, the EFC is not always an accurate reflection of what families can really afford to pay. And we all know that there are some students who would dearly love to attend USC who cannot do so because of financial concerns. I worry, therefore, that the school is accessible primarily to the very wealthy, the very needy, and those who have near-perfect test scores.
The issue I raise here is not unique to USC. It is an issue at any school that devotes significant resources to merit aid. The question is whether there is a more equitable way to allocate resources -- either by giving merit aid to more students in smaller amounts or by giving more generous need-based grants. This policy issue is an important one and worth discussing. USC is a great institution, but that doesn't mean that we can't question its priorities or engage in a dialogue about how to make it an even better institution.
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<p>So currently about 150 full-tuition academic scholarships awarded annually, plus an expected 25 more courtesy of the Morks. Really puts their gift into perspective; that’s quite an increase due to a single donation. Not that USC couldn’t use more…</p>
<p>Steverino, you can question whatever you please. I am impatient and frustrated because you have posted a great deal of misinformation, and you have supported none of your many blanket pronouncements.</p>
<p>Even with hundreds - literally hundreds - of posts countering the misinformation, I cannot keep up, and I am sure posters like you will continue to spread rumors and misinformation. I cannot fathom why anyone would want to do that.</p>
<p>I’m going to bow out of the middle of this one. I am not an expert on % of merit vs. % of need based…at any school let alone USC. I will however say that by checking in numerous threads on the number of posts by various participants, it is HIGHLY likely that many posters just hone in on thread titles, and don’t do lots and lots of thread searches. Self included. They/we probably should…but don’t spend enough time on any social networking site to get into the weeds too much. Those more knowledgable among you that do spend lots of time on this site (or any other board) will by defenition be frustrated by those that don’t. It does come with the territory. Rather than thinking of it as a waste of your time…i’d prefer to think about all of the compliments you are getting. If it frustrates you that much then I don’t know what to do for you…I don’t really see it changing with the amount of turnover on these boards, and the number of new and inexperienced posters, and college searchers.</p>
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<p>From here: [USC</a> Trustee & Presidential Scholars](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/arp//faqscholars.htm]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/arp//faqscholars.htm)</p>
<p>If you get a Trustee scholarship, you are not eligible for any more USC money. Tuition exchange is only for children of staff and faculty members and I seriously doubt that it’s a big deal.</p>