You plan to drive 29 hours to get to USC?
Why would you do that? If you are on such a restricted budget that you have to drive to USC then it’s not worth it.
Our son was accepted into USC and he received half off of tuition, but we would’ve had to pay the other half of tuition (At that time we would pay about $37,000) plus another $25k (?) for room and board. Which was almost like paying another tuition at one of the other schools.
If you have to take out loans to attend USC, then there’s your answer. You can only take out loans that total $27,000 over four years.
California is very expensive. At one point you’re gonna have to get off campus housing and it’s not cheap.
My sister attended USC and she had to take an off-campus apartment because housing was limited. She was very good about sticking to the her budget, but there were times when we had to pony up money to help her out. She was on a scholarship and her part-time job didn’t cover some of her expenses there. My parents were low income so they tried to help as much as they could. We all worked and would send money to her.