Your (School Funding) Questions: Answered!



It’s been great to listen to from therefore many excited admitted students, but we know that many families still have lingering financial aid questions. We thought it would be beneficial to compile a summary of the questions that are common have obtained and have the workplace of Financial Aid respond. Please see the post below for responses to questions that are common may have about financial aid at USC:

Why is the EFC based on USC various than the EFC reported on FAFSA?

The information you provided on the FAFSA is used to calculate eligibility for federal student aid (including Pell Grant, Stafford Direct and Perkins Loans, and Federal Work-Study), utilizing a formula known as Federal Methodology (FM). FM takes into consideration:

• Total earnings (taxable and nontaxable).
• resource equity (not such as the household’s home and/or business or farm, if the household is just a bulk owner with significantly less than 100 employees).
• Allowances for basic bills and retirement.
• Family size and number of children in college.

Eligibility for university grant funding and other university aid that is need-based determined by firmly taking into account the additional data provided in your CSS PROFILE, federal income tax information as well as other supporting papers, making use of a formula known as Institutional Methodology (IM). This formula may include some sources of untaxed income also home and business or farm equity. In addition, certain other allowances and adjustments may be considered which the FAFSA does not. Using this information permits us to more accurately measure a family’s economic strength in order to distribute university-funded need-based grants since equitably as you possibly can.

Your FAFSA EFC determines the sort and amount of federal student aid you are eligible for, while the IM EFC determines the quantity and kind of university need-based aid that is financial are going to be granted.

What if my family can’t manage the EFC?

Bear in mind that the EFC is not a bill however a measure of one’s capability to subscribe to the cost of degree, considering your family members’ financial energy. Your expense, or family contribution, will be based on your own real cost of attendance minus any financial aid received. Your family contribution is intended to be paid through a combination of sources including income that is current college or other savings, and/or longer-term financing such as for example parent and pupil loans.

Besides finding how to keep costs down, families may consider these solutions at USC:

• The USC Payment Plan is an interest-free installment plan that allows the household to pay all or even a part of the student’s university fees each semester in five equal month-to-month payments for the $50 fee/semester.

• The Federal PLUS Loan program and loan that is privates) enable families to spread the price of training over a long period.

Many families make use of a combination of the USC Payment Plan and the Federal PLUS Loan to simply help cover the fee of attendance. We encourage families to evaluate their short- and long-term resources to develop a plan that works best for his or her situation.

Families ought to borrow because conservatively as possible. Students and parents should exhaust all federal assistance available, including the Federal Direct Stafford Loan and the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, before considering a private education loan system, due to the fact credit and repayment regards to federal loan programs may be more favorable compared to those for private loan programs.

Using personal education loan programs to cover the cost may result in the pupil taking on an unrealistic and debt load that is ultimately unmanageable. For students whom elect to apply for private loans, applying by having a credit-worthy co-borrower increases the likelihood of qualifying and can reduce the interest rate.

Although a lot of loans are deferred, parents should start thinking about making interest payments while the student is in school, when possible, to reduce the general cost of borrowing.
Finally, that you believe was not taken into consideration when determining your EFC, please be sure to let us know by submitting an appeal if you have a special circumstance.

What if I do not qualify for financial aid but can’t afford to send my kid to USC?

Regardless of financial need, all learning students are qualified to receive Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans. File a FAFSA to determine how much your student can receive.

We also encourage families who do not be eligible for need-based aid that is financial think about these options offered by the college:

• The USC Payment Plan is an interest-free installment plan that allows the household to pay all or even a portion of the student’s college charges each semester in five equal monthly premiums for a $50 fee/semester.

• The Federal PLUS Loan program and private loan programs enable families to spread the price of education over many years.

Can we stack scholarships?

If you should be maybe not a financial aid recipient, merit-based scholarships may be stacked. Please be aware that in the event that you receive awards that can only be used to buy tuition, the total quantity of one’s awards might not go beyond the price of tuition for the year. You need to refer to the scholarship guide that you received for details on how scholarships may be combined.

When coordinating scholarships with financial aid, our workplace makes shmoop essay help service every attempt to preserve any need-based university grant you might have been awarded. In many cases, a new merit scholarship gotten after your initial monetary aid honor will reduce the levels of Federal Work-Study and federal loans you receive. The total aid that is financial may also increase, allowing your Stafford Loan to help with the family contribution. In some cases, however, the college grant that is need-based be reduced because the total amount of gift help exceeds the determined need.

Who is eligible for work-study and just how much can they receive?

To be qualified to receive Federal Work-Study, you must have a USC-determined financial need. In addition, you must have met all application deadlines, be considered a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen and enroll for the number of units your financial aid award was based on. New students that are first-year meet these qualifications may receive up to $2,500 in work-study.

If you do not receive work-study funds, you can still work with campus. Many employers that are on-campus employ pupils who do maybe not have work-study. You will find jobs on campus through the ‘ConnectSC’ portal on the USC Career Center web site.