@collegemomjam If you have anything and make any kind of decent living, FA will just be loans, you sound like you know that. For many it really isn’t worth filling out the forms. It also isn’t worth dragging your student down a path you don’t want to be on (paying and/or borrowing $65K per year). Getting a new continuing ed scholarship is almost more competitive and they are very small (typically 2k, the most I hear is 8K and that is extremely rare), so don’t count on those going forward, just a heads up. I think keeping it real is better than giving kids false hope or going down a road you as a parent don’t want to go down. People are slowly getting smarter about what they are spending on an education. I think USC like many schools over sells the “aid” = loans knowing people get emotionally invested easily when their kid’s happiness is involved, then bam, there goes your retirement. My inner circle has a motto, if you are the many in the middle that will be full pay and needs a scholarship to actually afford a school, but doesn’t get one, move on.