My kid interviewed and received a Dean’s Scholarship - 25% ($16,600) off. So $50,650 for tuition, or $74,375 - not including the extra cost for McCarthy Honors College rooms (ie. couple thousand more than $74k).
There are only about 400 scholarships (Trustee, Presidential, Dean’s) outside of National Merit (half off tuition). Should be celebrating my kid beating the odds. Looking at these numbers, though, I feel… there are no words.
You only need an extra $150k if you’ve saved nothing over the years and need to cash flow it. Colleges assume 18 years of savings.
Amazing that colleges assume 18 years of savings. I remember opening our first 529 in the early days in our careers and when our oldest was 1 year old. Sometimes we barely managed to put $25 in there each month. My husband was unemployed periodically throughout the years, making it impossible to save for college at times because our household income was cut in half. We have hustled our whole careers and we’ve been pretty fortunate, all things considered. We managed to save quite a bit in the end because our income has increased quite significantly over the last 10 years, but still, we did not save that kind of money in advance. Amazing to me that colleges assume savings amounting to anywhere near $400k. A family looks at that price tag, at their savings, at what the school “says” they should be able to contribute… and there’s really only one takeaway: this place is not for my family.
Money is money.
It doesn’t matter if I saved for 18 years.
Doesn’t matter is I decide to work over time and make the extra 150k each year.
It doesn’t matter if I win the lottery.
$400k is still $400k.
I would expect that price tag will attract a certain type of family and applicant, if you find that appealing.
The average American Household has 62,410 in savings. Let’s not forget when JB decided to forgive student loans because of all these horror storied about young people being buried in debt, old people retire with nothing because they cosigned a student loan. Folks, this is where it starts.
Anyone taking on debt to attend USC should be attending financial counseling instead.
It is really disheartening for my wife and I who are both in education who also have 4 children have no chance to send our son or any of our children there at these rates. He is awaiting a decision but at these rates, we would need an extra 1.6 million to educate all 4 of our children. We put away a lot (so we thought) but not close to this. Good luck to those who can afford it.
At least you don’t work at USC.
Three of my colleagues work at USC. USC has tuition free for employees after working there for 5 years. AFAIK, none of the three’s kids got in… They were angry and pissed as hell.
What did your colleagues do? Where did the kids end up going?
There are lots of great affordable colleges in the US and abroad for your children. They aren’t missing anything by foregoing USC.
You mean like almost everybody?
Student debt was a big problem. Now it seems like they shifted the debt onto the parents. Some of the zero loan/debt schools I was looking at conveniently shifted that to parent loans, so student does come out debt free themselves but parents get saddled with the loans or money from their savings. I guess that’s why they ask how much retirement funds parents have.
You’re right, I think I need a financial counseling class.
My kid is trying to figure out what can be done to bring the cost down. I have (broken record here) advised about hunting down merit scholarships. Now that the best-chance institutional one has been revealed, I am trying to help with finding others that can be applied to - this late in the year. The struggle is real, as our family doesn’t do “dream schools” but my kid really enjoyed this school during the campus visit (and yes, it’s a number one choice - who can’t see themselves on this campus!).
IMO there are instances where it can make sense for parents to take loans for college, but mostly IME if parent loans are needed…the school isn’t affordable.
Financial fit shouldn’t be an afterthought, it should be a primary if not the primary consideration when building a college list (not saying it was an afterthought for you).
USC employees can take advantage of the Tuition Exchange Program. I know several employees whose children are attending USC. When it comes to admissions decisions, the employee’s child goes up against all other applicants. Just like USC’s NMF scholarship, IF they are accepted, THEN they will receive full-tuition.
Our list was varied - USC is a financial fit for most students that earn a Trustee’s Scholarship - it was for us if our kid received one. Presidential, well, closer to in-state UCs. Dean’s at about $76k? Different reality.
Agree with you that any loans taken in UG by parents will indicate school is unaffordable.
As much as I hate the concept of ROI (Return of Investment), $400k is way over the top.
You have physicians complain about $400k in debt and they have (almost guaranteed) decent paying jobs. At present interest rates, a loan even half of that ($200k)will be $1500 a month for 30 years. Most of us will probably not live that long.
I think it’s a brilliant move for USC to offer EA and dangle a scholarship carrot to get 40,000 people to apply EA this year. From other threads, I think the folks who get selected are already getting National Merit Awards and/or part of specific demographics where we’re not it.
It’s not a school I would have had S24 apply to otherwise had I know about how impossible the scholarship selection may be. Just telling the wife last night we will not repeat this mistake for D27.
All that money and they’re tied now at 28th place with UC San Diego and UC Davis.
Even with the Presidential Scholarship, fingers crossed for admission to UCLA! It is amazing how much money you would need to make after taxes to live in Southern California and send a kid to USC. Even the UC system is pretty painful for the upper middle class in SoCal. My income in Omaha would make it all affordable. I always laugh at all of the colleges that claim 100% of need is fulfilled and what that really means is the middle and upper middle class need to take out loans. Multiply it all by 3 or 4 kids. The Cal State system and many schools with generous merit scholarships are options for families who are financially smart, but tons of families make huge financial mistakes because of expectations that the kids should go to schools toward the top of their abilities. The only reason the schools are charging as much as they do now is because of the availability of parent loans and that system is broken.