Financial Aid Information 2026–27

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About You

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Pick any that apply. Leave all unchecked to see everything.

USC’s reported total. It sets your merit semesters: 6, 5, or 4.
From STARS, including AP and transfer credit. Blank plans 16 units a term.
Most USC bachelor’s degrees need 128. Blank uses 128.
Sets the housing and food part of your cost of attendance.
Eligibility Details
Sets your own loan limits and whether parents can borrow Parent PLUS.
We ask because aid stops once you’ve taken more than 150% of your degree’s units (192 for 128). Financial aid calls this “units attempted”: every class you were enrolled in, including dropped (W) and failed ones, plus transfer units. Your SAP record shows it. Don’t count Fall 2026; the planner adds it.
Satisfactory Academic Progress: GPA, completion rate, and the 150% limit. Most students are meeting it.
If no, Pell and loans used so far can be estimated from your USC terms.
USC summers before Fall 2026

Your Path

This is your goal. Results show the earliest you could finish from the units you have left, and flag it if the two don’t fit.
We ask because Pell, Cal Grant, USC grants, and loans end once your requirements are complete, even if you keep taking classes. Most students finish their requirements in their final semester, so leave this unchecked unless you plan to stay on.
We ask because aid for your degree ends after this semester, even while you keep taking classes. USC confers the degree for the semester you finish all requirements.
Minor courses beyond your free electives. Blank means the minor fits in your electives. USC hasn’t said whether minor-only units count toward full-time.
We ask because once one is done, USC treats you as a second-bachelor’s student: loans and Work-Study only.
Master’s courses you take while still an undergraduate. We ask because they’re billed at the undergraduate flat rate but don’t count toward the 12 units aid needs. Blank means none.
We ask because an assistantship makes you a graduate student for aid from that semester, even before your bachelor’s is done.
Summers
Semester Off
A USC leave counts as a withdrawal and ends the legacy loan limits. An approved Title IV leave does not.
Later-Year Prices
USC hasn’t published prices after 2026–27, so later years use 2026–27 prices plus this increase.

Your 2026–27 Aid Offer

Enter what your FAST offer shows. Awards you don’t add count as none.

Blank counts each fall and spring since your first USC term. Merit covers 8 semesters (fewer for transfers).
More Offer Details
Only scholarships not already on your FAST offer.
USC grants past this term need USC’s approval. Blank assumes eight semesters for first-year entrants.
Student Aid Index from your FAFSA. No Pell at $14,790 or more.
Lifetime Eligibility Used, on studentaid.gov. The limit is 600%.
From your WebGrants account. Most students get 400%.

Loans

“As on my offer” repeats your 2026–27 loans each year.
New borrowers: $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per student, for all parents combined.
Yes to both questions keeps the old (legacy) loan limits for up to three years.
Your Direct Loan or a Parent PLUS for you, actually disbursed. Check studentaid.gov; a canceled loan doesn’t count.
Loan History
Include repaid amounts and other schools. It counts toward the $65,000 total.
A denial raises your own loan limit to the independent amount.
Only if USC told you when your legacy limits end.
For the $257,500 lifetime cap. Include repaid loans; exclude Parent PLUS. Blank uses the amounts above.
Repayment Estimate
Used only for the RAP monthly payment estimate.

Info: What Changed on July 1, 2026

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119-21; ED now calls it the Working Families Tax Cuts Act) rewrote federal loan limits. Undergraduate Direct Loan limits did not change.

  • New federalParent PLUS Is Capped$20,000 a year and $65,000 total per student, for all parents combined. The total counts every PLUS dollar ever borrowed for that student, including amounts repaid and loans from other schools.pplus.new
  • New federalLegacy WindowIf you were enrolled June 30, 2026 and a Direct Loan (yours or your parent's) was disbursed for your program before July 1, 2026, the old limits apply for the lesser of three academic years or the published length left. It never gets longer.legacy.conditions legacy.etc-cap
  • New federalGraduate LoansNo Grad PLUS for new borrowers. Master's students get $20,500 a year and $100,000 total in unsubsidized loans. A $257,500 lifetime cap covers all your own federal loans.fl.grad.new fl.lifetime
  • New federalPart-Time Loan CutsBelow full-time for the year, your own Direct Loan limit drops in proportion (units / 24, rounded to a whole percent). This applies to legacy borrowers too. Parent PLUS is not reduced.fl.sor
  • New federalPell CutoffsNo Pell with an SAI of $14,790 or more (2026-27). If non-federal grants reach your cost of attendance, USC must cut them or your Pell.pell.sai-cutoff pell.full-coa
  • New federalRepaymentAny loan made after July 1, 2026 moves all your Direct Loans to two plans: Tiered Standard (10 to 25 years) or RAP (1% to 10% of income, at least $10 a month). New Parent PLUS gets Tiered Standard only.repay.plans-new repay.rap

Adding a Minor, Major, or Degree

Finishing in four years doesn't make you eligible by itself, and adding a program doesn't extend any award. Each award runs on its own clock: merit on semesters, Pell on a lifetime percentage, Cal Grant on years, loans on the legacy window, and all federal aid on the 150% timeframe.

Full Program Comparison
MinorDouble MajorDual Bachelor'sPDP (Progressive Master's)
Degree Timing Must finish with the major, not after it; at least 16 units unique to the minor.
USC policyacad.minor
 One degree and one diploma. USC advises finishing both majors in the same term.
USC policyacad.double-major
 At least 32 units beyond the first degree; two diplomas; may finish in different terms.
USC policyacad.dual-bachelors
 Apply after 64 units; the master's can't be awarded before the bachelor's; 12-semester limit.
USC policyacad.pdp
Enrollment Status Minor-only units beyond your elective room may not count toward 12.
Confirm with USCenr.applicable.minor
 Second-major courses count toward 12 while both majors are in progress.
USC policyenr.applicable.second-major
 Counts while pursuing both; once the first is done you're a second-bachelor's student.
USC policyacad.double-major-aid
 Graduate courses count only if applied to the bachelor's; stay at 12 bachelor's units.
Existing federalenr.applicable
Costs Units above 18 cost $2,539 each; an added term is a full semester.
USC policycost.tuition.2026-27
 Same: overloads above 18, or another semester.
USC policycost.tuition.2026-27
 32+ more units is about another year of tuition.
USC policyacad.dual-bachelors
 Undergraduate flat rate until conferral or an RA/TA, then $2,539 per graduate unit.
USC policyacad.pdp
Merit No extra semesters: 8 total, full-time each term, 30 units a year.
USC policymerit.semestersmerit.30units
 No extra semesters for the second major.
USC policymerit.semesters
 Ends at the first conferral; no extra semesters.
USC policymerit.conferral
 Continues while the bachelor's is in progress (8 total), ends at conferral. After an RA/TA, ask USC.
Confirm with USCmerit.pdp-grad
USC Grants No published semester cap, and none extended; a term beyond your packaged plan needs USC.
Confirm with USCugrant.duration
 Stop once one major's requirements are done.
USC policyacad.double-major-aid
 Stop once the first degree's requirements are done.
USC policyacad.double-major-aid
 Undergraduate status only; none as a graduate student.
USC policyugrant.eligibility
Pell and Cal Grant Pell has a 600% lifetime limit. Cal Grant generally has four full-time-equivalent years; teaching credentials, five-year programs, and foster youth have exceptions.
Existing federalpell.leucg.duration
 End when the first set of degree requirements is complete.
Existing federalpell.first-bachelors
 End when the first bachelor's is complete.
Existing federalpell.first-bachelorscg.first-bachelors
 Undergraduate status only.
Existing federalpell.first-bachelors
SAP Same 150% cap: 192 attempted units for a 128-unit degree.
USC policysap.max-timeframe
 Same 150% cap, no extra allowance.
USC policysap.max-timeframe
 Same 150% cap, no extra allowance.
USC policysap.max-timeframe
 Undergraduate SAP until the switch, then master's standards.
USC policyacad.pdp
Borrowing Same program, so legacy limits continue, but the window doesn't grow.
New federallegacy.program
 Same program; legacy window unchanged.
New federallegacy.program
 Same credential level; legacy window unchanged.
New federallegacy.dual-bachelors
 Graduate terms: $20,500 a year. Grad PLUS and legacy depend on how USC reports PDP.
Confirm with USClegacy.pdp

A master's you start after graduating is a new program. Undergraduate legacy doesn't carry into it: $20,500 a year, $100,000 total, no Grad PLUS. legacy.later-masters