<p>I’ll repost some info from page one of the thread:
</p>
<p>So in the case you describe, a student with a USC-determined need of approximately $5,000, a National Merit Presidential scholarship of ~$21,000 would fully meet that need and no need-based aid would be awarded. The student would still be eligible for unsubsidized Stafford loans of $5,500 their first year, $6,500 sophomore year, and $7,500 each of the junior and senior years.
I do request that new applicants and their parents with questions about financial aid take a few minutes to read at least page one of this thread - there is a LOT of useful information there and it helps me out by getting the basics out of the way so I can address your situation-specific questions.</p>
<p>If a sememster abroad cost more than a on campus semester will my financial aid be increased to cover this extra cost as a grant rather than additional loans? Or would the additional cost be covered only as additional loans? In other words…does USC calculate the Estimated Family Contribution and that stays the same even if the cost increases so therefore they increase your grant? I just want to be realistic about whether I can afford a semester abroad because my mother can’t take out more loans than she is already taking out. Thanks for your opinion.</p>
<p>The official position is that if the semester abroad costs more than a semester at USC, they will offer additional loan eligibility. I suggest going ahead with a plan to study abroad and submit the budget estimates, including airfare, to the financial aid office. Explain that you will not be able to do work/study while studying abroad. We found that the budget estimates were very generous and that small adjustments were made to the aid - enough to just make it work without the additional loans.</p>
<p>Many study abroad programs require that you pre-pay for your room in spring - long before financial aid is applied - so you will have to budget for that expense in the spring. Though the expense may be included in your financial aid you will not be reimbursed until late August or early September.</p>
<p>Study abroad is such a valuable experience I suggest you DO try to make it work.</p>
<p>^ No, USC is need-blind in admissions for domestic applicants. Your ability to pay or need for financial aid will not be considered in admissions decisions.</p>
<p>International applicants are required to provide proof that they can pay for the first year at USC before an acceptance can be mailed.</p>
I have no official word on this from USC, but I have never asked - you could try giving them a call and see what they say. If you get an answer, be sure to let us know.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, it seems they do cap home equity - at least in some cases. In some of the packages people have posted, the home equity was capped at about 2X income. In addition, there is an asset allowance that protects a portion of your assets. It is hard to make sweeping generalizations, though, because USC tends to treat people as individuals and would not be likely to treat an applicant with a $30,000/year income and 2 million in home equity in the same way as an applicant with a $45,000 income and $150,000 in home equity. I suspect the first would not receive a 2X($60,000<em>) cap, and the second might get that 2X cap ($90,000</em>).</p>
<p>That isn’t really an answer, but I hope it helps! Good luck.</p>
<p>*Note: having $90,000 considered for financial aid does NOT mean you would have to pay $90,000! In general, 5.6% of home equity is considered available for college, so if $90,000 in equity is considered, approximately $5,040 would be expected from that amount.</p>
<p>So I was a junior transfer (started last fall) and switched my major to business (started business this fall). I have 44 units.</p>
<p>I dropped a 4-unit class my first semester here, so naturally was put on academic probation. </p>
<p>Now I have so far taken 44 units at USC.</p>
<p>Just got an e-mail saying I lost my financial aid eligibility because I don’t have enough units.</p>
<p>Apparently its 45. I have 44. And I even talked to someone who said that I’d be fine as long as I don’t drop or fail any classes.</p>
<p>This is CRAZY! Has this happened to anyone else?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!</p>
<p>After a stressful semester – first Marshall semester and a death in the family – I was finally relaxing this holiday. Then I open my e-mail and saw THIS?!</p>
<p>Whoa. This is IMPOSSIBLE.</p>
<p>Did I just lose all my aid? Can I get it back, or…?</p>
<p>1) I am almost done with the CSS profile and plan to submit it for processing soon. It is true that I will be update to finalize the estimates to actual numbers online, once I file? Or do I need to send hard copy to the financial aid office.</p>
<p>2) Can I submit my 2011 tax return to the financial aid office (by March 1) as a pdf or do people usually sent that as hard copy? At this link it looks like they are encouraging document upload. My child as a USC id, but this looks like it is only for current students. [USC</a> Financial Aid - My Financial Aid & Documents](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/my_fa/]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/my_fa/)</p>
<p>1) Maybe. For the FAFSA, you are required to finalize the numbers at fafsa.ed.gov (NEVER the fafsa.com address), but the procedure for the CSS/Profile is less clear. As of last year, there was no way to update estimates online, so any changes had to be made by printing out a copy of your original, making the changes with an old-fasioned pen, and sending (or FAXing) in the hard copy.</p>
<p>I have found nothing on the USC financial aid website saying that applicants are required to submit an updated CSS/Profile, but I generally recommend that if the change/update is not reflected on your FAFSA correction, you should submit the correction on the CSS/Profile. Hopefully that makes sense. For example, if your income figure on your tax return was off by a few thousand dollars and you enter that change on your FAFSA correction, there would be no reason to also submit the same correction on the CSS/Profile - USC already has the information via the FAFSA. BUT, if it was a change to something not reported on the FAFSA - such as a savings account balance for a family that qualified for the Simplified Needs Test*, then yes, you should do a correction to the estimate on the CSS/Profile.</p>
<p>*Simplified Needs Test: Some families do not have to report savings balances on the FAFSA because they qualify for the Simplified Needs Test by having an income below a threshold. Those savings balances MUST be reported on the CSS/Profile regardless of whether they were required on the FAFSA, and those assets WILL be considered by USC when calculating financial aid.
2) Yes. USC is very flexible about how you submit these documents. They prefer uploaded submission because it reduces the piles of paper lying about and the work office staff must do to upload the documents (they scan in all this stuff if it is submitted as hard copies), but if you get it to them as a hard copy they will accept and process it. They have only had the upload option for the last two years, so old-timers (like me ) still tend to fill the office with page after page of FAXed materials, but they really would like to have electronic submission now. (And even I managed the upload tax returns last summer!)</p>
<p>Include the USC ID number on everything you submit by mail, FAX or as hard copies, or if you don’t have one/don’t know what it is use your name as it appears on the application and the applicant’s birthdate - especially important if the parent name(s) differ from the applicant’s on the parent tax return.</p>
<p>My USC financial aid does not yet have my cal grant award (cal grant b + transfer student) included in their package. I was wondering how my financial aid package would change when the cal grant award is updated in the package (loans, university grant). Thanks!</p>
<p>USC determines your need using the CSS/Profile and the FAFSA and calculates a package to meet 100% of that need. If they then find that you qualify for a Cal Grant, the Cal Grant will replace all or part of your USC grant.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if this question has already been answered. I have searched this thread/the forum but found contradictory information.</p>
<p>By what point do students have to declare USC as their first choice to get the half tuition NMF scholarship? Also, is this scholarship guaranteed to all matriculating NMFs or is it competitive?</p>
) still tend to fill the office with page after page of FAXed materials, but they really would like to have electronic submission now. (And even I managed the upload tax returns last summer!)</p>