<p>USC Top School for International Students</p>
<p>[USC</a> Top School for International Students | ATVN](<a href=“http://www.atvn.org/news/2011/11/usc-top-host-school-international-students]USC”>http://www.atvn.org/news/2011/11/usc-top-host-school-international-students)</p>
<p>Looking at USC’s financial aid policy for international students it appears that they have “Open Doors” for those with open wallets.</p>
<p>^Indeed, 15% translates to 440 international freshmen. That’s a lot of fat wallets. That explains how they are able to fund the most generous merit-based scholarship program in the nation (20 full tuition + stipend, 140 full-tuition, 350 half-tuition, 100 quarter tuition, 60 other tuition; overall, almost a quarter of the entering freshmen get merit-based money). They also have “open doors” to large number of transfers and part-timers who probably have fatter wallets also (total undergrad ~ 17,000 even though the freshmen class is ~3000).</p>
<p>
Oh goodie! Do USC undergrads suffer with TAs that “can’t speak a lick of English”?</p>
<p>“At USC, about 70% of international students in fall 2010 were enrolled in graduate-level programs, the majority attending the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.”</p>
<p>That could explain why USC is rated higher in graduate engineering than undegraduate engineering at USNWR. :-)</p>
<p>
A note: Though, as you mention, USC does not provide need-based aid to international students, undergraduate transfers receive need-based aid using the same calculations as students entering as freshmen.</p>
<p>International students are eligible for most USC merit scholarships (Trustee, Presidential, Dean’s, Director’s), and they are often awarded those scholarships as well as a 1/2 tuition scholarship reserved just for internationals.</p>