Nope, I don’t think it’s mandatory.
So, even if I decide not to house, dine, etc… my gift aid wont be reduced?
I thought it was mandatory unless you have medical and such excuse.
All the other cost; transportation, books, misc are not part of the USC final bill ( these are estimated out of pocket costs).
You can also do a medical insurance waiver, which is another saving, if you have another coverage.
So yes, the aid amount should not change.
But just for this year. Next will depend on your 2023 income.
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That makes sense! Thank you!
So I was just reading on the website and it stated the following:
Housing Change
Your Financial Aid Summary indicates the housing status you reported when you applied for financial aid:
- Living with parents or relatives
- Not living with parents or relatives
Submit an updated Financial Aid Supplement if your housing plans change.
Please note: Your eligibility for aid will be reduced if you decide to live with parents or relatives.
Your eligibility for aid may increase if you decide to live separately from parents or relatives.
Am I misinterpreting this, or would my aid indeed be reduced?
I honestly don’t know. I thought the aid was based on tuition, but also your net pay should be based on your SAI number. This is why they say they truly match need based aid.
So if your payment was supposed to be 30K and it’s very close to your SAI number this is what they expect you to pay perhaps regardless if your child chooses housing or not. Our net pay is exactly what our SAI came out as.
I am only confused as his SAI is -1500, which means most of not all should be covered.
You do not have to live on campus. If you selected on campus housing when you applied, your aid may change (like stated above) if you live elsewhere. Best thing to do would be to call FA office and ask what the impact would be. They could tell you exact figures depending on your housing choice in the end.
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I called the office and they said they couldn’t tell me specifics about how the aid would change. Can I schedule a meeting with an financial aid officer about this?
That doesn’t make sense, they should be able to tell you that…I would call again and hope you get someone else. But they may want you to fill out the FA Supplement so it goes through a formal process. I still thought they would give you a general idea of what to expect. I would assume the gift aid would change if you decide to live at home. If you choose comparably priced outside housing, it may not change much. But I would want them to say that!
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It’s because there is a certain amount leftover with housing and dining, so if we choose not to accept those, those costs will be omitted, therefore causing the net cost to go down. However, I am worried they will proportionally decrease the gift aid, so that the same exact amount is leftover anyway… if that makes sense
I will call once more on Tuesday, though! Thanks
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Housing is not mandatory at USC.
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Hi, just letting parents of USC kids know that if you need support of any kind for your student while they are in LA, please look into MindyKNOWS. I use them for my daughter at Wash U and they are awesome. They are on lots of campuses and really great peace of mind.
The USC FB group is run by USC. It has close to 9K members and is quite helpful for just about anything you or your student might need in LA.
Are they approving requests to join? I requested a while back, but have not been approved yet.
I would try again.
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For those with students interested in marching band, the following was posted on the parent Facebook group.
Welcome new parents of Class of 2028. Those with interest in the Trojan Marching Band (TMB), otherwise known as “The Spirit of Troy”, or otherwise known as “The greatest marching band in the history of the university, ever!”
Here are a couple of resources:
“Spirit of Troy” official facebook page has good info on upcoming events and some other good stuff
Trojan Marching Band - Parents Group - is a place where band parents can ask questions and provide feedback etc.It’s not formally sanctioned by USC, but to join you must answer a series of questions, one of which is non-yes/no (which filters out a lot of spammers). Spammers that slip through are immediately ejected from the group. Come join us if you are interested (but be sure to answer the non-yes/no question properly!).
