USC will discontinue the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding opportunities beginning Fall 2024, the Daily Trojan confirmed with an email from Academic Honors and Fellowships, a department of the Office of Academic Programs, on March 7.

The Academic Achievement Award will not be offered for students graduating later than August 2025 or any future terms. Exceptional Funding will not be offered for Presidential and Trustee Scholars who enrolled in Fall 2024 or later. This decision came just a few weeks before Fall 2024 registration, which is set to begin March 27.

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The AAA was first offered in 2010 to allow students pursuing multiple undergraduate degree objectives to take up to 21 units at the standard tuition rate. While the Office of Academic Programs originally stated the program’s last semester would be Spring 2024, the award was extended to accommodate current seniors and those graduating in August of 2025.

The other program being cut — Exceptional Funding — previously allowed Presidential and Trustee Scholars to cover fall and spring semester enrollment in “more than 18 units … AND/OR enrollment in up to 8 units during the summer,” according to the Academic Honors and Fellowships website. New eligibility guidelines for Exceptional Funding include that the recipient must be “enrolled in USC courses BEFORE Fall 2024,” according to Academic Honors and Fellowships, meaning that new merit scholars will not be able to access this opportunity.

The March 7 email stated that “university leadership has decided not to continue with the program,” but did not provide further information regarding this change. The decision came one day after the Daily Trojan reported that the University raised its tuition by 4.9% for Fall 2024 and just as the application for Fall 2024 Exceptional Funding was set to open March 8.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan on March 8, the Office of Academic Programs wrote that it assesses its programs “on an ongoing basis” to ensure support for “the largest number of students.” It described the discontinuation of Exceptional Funding and AAA as among the “occasional changes” it makes based on those assessments.

Andrew McConnell Stott, vice provost for Academic Programs and dean of the Graduate School, said in an interview with the Daily Trojan on March 15 that the Office of Academic Programs felt the AAA had “reached its natural conclusion.”

Regarding students who had already factored AAA into their course plans, Stott said “The Academic Achievement Award was never a guarantee,” and said students who had planned on using AAA “need to discuss… with a financial aid advisor as well as an academic advisor.” 

In a follow-up message Friday afternoon, the Office of Academic Programs wrote that fewer than 2% of undergraduates qualify for AAA each year. This means that around 400 students who currently qualify for AAA would no longer be able to take advantage of the award.

In an email obtained by the Daily Trojan, the Office of Academic Programs told an affected student that it understands the discontinuation of the scholarships is “a big change” and encouraged them to speak with their academic advisor to “discuss potential changes to [their] course plan.”

Fleming said this decision came extremely abruptly. 

“People … had advisement meetings this week that planned on them taking AAA,” Fleming said. 

Kiley GilBride, a junior majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting who works as a tour guide for USC, said the University’s decision could drive future students away.

“When I tell prospective families that they don’t have to pay any more tuition to get those extra couple of classes in, their faces light up,” GilBride said. “By taking that advantage away, they are literally turning away prospective students that want to come to USC in order to get those degree programs.”

Amos Pai, a junior majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting as well as public relations, said he relied on AAA to be able to balance his two degrees. 

“The biggest reason why I ultimately chose USC was the opportunity to double major. And there’s no way I could do a double major without AAA,” Pai said. 

AAA also helps students pursue minors and progressive degree programs. Tara Sandman-Long, a sophomore majoring in arts, technology and the business of innovation, used AAA to get a minor in cinematic arts. She also noted that with a structured major like arts, technology and the business of innovation, progressive degree programs are “impossible” without AAA. 

Emiko Ohta, a senior majoring in theatre who is currently planning on graduating in three years, said she needed to take 21 credits each semester to graduate on time. Ohta said without AAA, they wouldn’t have been able to graduate. 

“It’s completely impossible to [pursue multiple degrees] with the time and the limits that USC gives us without AAA,” Ohta said. “Because … each major has its own set of requirements and it’s upwards of 60 units.”

The Office of Academic Honors and Fellowships said in an email obtained by the Daily Trojan that it does not plan to send a communitywide announcement regarding the change because the AAA was “only granted to a small portion of the whole student body.” That has left the task of communicating the decision to individual departments and their academic advisors. Stott stated that this decision was due to the “very small number of students” that qualify for AAA. 

Ohta said they felt hurt and confused regarding the lack of communication with affected students.

“I was sitting in rehearsal when I saw the [Daily Trojan] post go up, and immediately, it was a raucous of people talking about it and people’s shouting and people screaming and cussing,” Ohta said. “It’s horrific [and] appalling.” 

GilBride said she believes the decision contradicts USC’s core values. 

“Multihyphenate is one of USC’s favorite words,” GilBride said. “It feels like USC is selling being a multihyphenate … while taking away the very thing that funds those types of programs.”

The Multihyphenate Award was first given in 2022 to Mindy Kaling and honors artists who embody “versatility and innovation,” according to the School of Cinematic Arts website. This February, the award was presented to USC alum and actress America Ferrera for her multifaceted career and personal interests.  

Students have responded to this change by creating a petition to the University to reinstate the AAA scholarship on Change.org. The petition, created by an anonymous student who wrote that they are currently “relying on AAA to fund [their] education,” called the University to action.

“Many students factored in AAA when deciding what major and minor tracks to pursue; it was a lifeline that enabled us to pursue our academic goals without the burden of crippling debt,” the petition states. “We are calling on [the] USC administration not only to reconsider their decision but also ensure that all current students who had factored AAA into their plans receive the opportunity to apply for the funds they were promised.”

At the time of publication, the petition had 2,835 signatures.