Tuition to increase by 3.5 percent next year
Naylee Nagda | Daily Trojan
Undergraduate tuition at USC will increase from $53,448 to $55,320 for the 2018-19 school year, University officials confirmed in a statement emailed to the Daily Trojan.
Tuition will increase by $1,872, or 3.5 percent.
In 2017, the University increased tuition from $51,422 to $53,448, a 3.93 percent or $2,006 increase.
This year’s tuition hike is the lowest increase since the 1969-70 school year, according to a statement emailed from the University to the Daily Trojan.
“USC’s financial aid pool continues to be the largest in the country, with annual percentage increases that are larger than tuition increases,” the University wrote. “With two-thirds of USC students receiving financial aid, this substantial pool of aid helps drive down the average net cost of attendance to $32,892.”
Provost Michael Quick said tuition costs go to providing students with valuable educations.
“Our students receive access to superior faculty, classes and programs, internships and career services, and they are more than ready to graduate to become the leaders in their chosen fields,” Quick said in a statement to the Daily Trojan.
However, some student leaders want to see more transparency regarding how their money is spent.
“I think the common sentiment felt among students is that people aren’t happy because we don’t know where that money is being spent,” Undergraduate Student Government president-elect Debbie Lee said.
Lee said that while it is unrealistic to get the University to freeze tuition costs, they are working to increase transparency by encouraging the University to publish a line-item budget of where tuition is distributed.
“We want students to know that we are working with the administration for tuition transparency so they know where their money is going,” USG vice president-elect Blake Ackerman said.
USC had the ninth most expensive tuition rate in the country for the 2017-18 school year according to the U.S. News and World Report, ranking among other universities and elite liberal arts colleges.