USC to not offer tuition refunds


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The University does not plan to refund tuition for the spring semester, Provost Charles Zukoski announced in an email Tuesday. (Vincent Leo | Daily Trojan)

USC will not provide prorated tuition refunds for the spring semester or upcoming summer sessions, Provost Charles Zukoski announced in a campuswide email Tuesday. He also announced that both summer sessions will be conducted online.

“While this is not the semester any of us envisioned, we are continuing to provide a high-quality education, ensure academic progress towards degree, and offer a robust learning environment,” the email read. “Whether our instructors present their classes in person or online, they bring the same expertise, depth of knowledge, and commitment to their teaching, and students continue to earn credits toward a USC degree.”

The summer sessions were moved online in light of the safer-at-home orders currently in place in California and most other states and the uncertainty regarding when the restrictions will be lifted. Summer courses will use the typical University grading policy, including the unit and deadline restrictions on pass/fail courses.

USC has not yet come to a decision on the status of the fall semester but plans to make an announcement within the next two months, the email read. Several other universities, such as CSU Fullerton and UCLA, have announced they will either require or offer the opportunity for students to take classes remotely this fall.

“We are focused on returning to activities in clinical care and clinical education, research, teaching, learning, and creative and athletic experiences that recognize the risks of the spread of the disease,” the email read. “All of this forward planning is being done with the full recognition that what we do at USC forms the foundation for successful lives and careers, and is the basis of a strong civil society.”

The dean’s list will also be suspended for Spring 2020 to lessen pressure on students amid the transition to online classes and the adjusted grading policy, the email read. 

The email also announced that the University has received $19 million in government funding through the CARES Act, half of which is federally mandated to go toward students who are in need of emergency financial assistance. Students who are undocumented or international or who have not met academic progress requirements for the spring semester will be unable to access these funds and may apply to the USC Student Basic Needs Fund instead, Zukoski wrote. 

“We are disappointed that our international and DACA students, as well as those enrolled in online-only programs, are not covered under the CARES Act,” the email read. “We are working to assist those students in myriad ways, including through the USC Student Basic Needs fund.”