Affordability initiatives should extend to summer courses

USC needs to be more straightforward about the application process for Problems Without Passports, Maymesters and departmental summer programs. The funding often varies from program to program — due dates and deposit deadlines may be poorly advertised and information about applicable scholarships and grants hard to sift through. Recent financial aid changes under President Carol Folt have made USC more affordable — but the school administration should be doing more to make optional enrichment programs more financially accessible as well. 

Planning for summer courses is understandably complex, and it affects what students can take during the regular semester as well. Maymester classes are included in undergraduate spring tuition, but the University stipulates that only 18 units are included in each semester’s tuition. Taking a four-unit Maymester class means that students can only take 14 units of work during the semester, unless they choose to pay for extra units or have planned far enough in advance to apply for funds like the Academic Achievement Award, which covers three extra units of tuition. 

Unlike Maymesters, departmental summer programs and Problems without Passports, a summer program during which students travel to locations around the world to study transnational issues, are not covered by Spring tuition. Upon acceptance into the course, a student is obligated to pay a $400 deposit to ensure immediate commitment. The University’s website notes that the 2020 summer tuition for a four-unit course is $7,712, and this doesn’t include the estimates of other expenses incurred while abroad. While the University advertises funding opportunities such as the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund, this application-based aid only covers up to $3,000 of program tuition costs. 

To USC’s credit, Dornsife summer programs are inclusive and immersive, with many offered to non-majors or students looking to complete GE credit. However, there is no escaping the inordinate price tag — even the two-unit “Soccer in Brazil” course offered this summer racks up huge costs, estimating that on top of the USC tuition fees and $500 deposit, there could be up to $2,900 in travel and lodging fees. 

USC summer programs are advertised as “experiential learning,” but for a significant percentage of the student population, the amount of disposable income needed to make these experiences a reality is simply not feasible. While there are funds, scholarships and grants available to offset the costs of living and units of tuition, the amounts offered are scattered and confusing, and application timelines are often conspicuously absent. Viterbi School of Engineering’s Summer 2020 program in London is one of the few departmental offerings that even displays a comprehensive timeline of application requirements and deposit deadlines, offering time after program acceptance and financial aid award disbursement, for students to decide to commit to the program before putting down a deposit. In comparison, many of the Dornsife deadlines for the grant applications occur after the application for the summer program is due,  meaning students committed to the program will either lose their deposit fee or are on the hook for several thousand dollars, if they do not receive enough money.

The depth and variety of summer course programs are truly incredible, but students in need of financial assistance are missing out on some of the most unique and immersive opportunities at USC. Summer courses are optional, but many students don’t even have the luxury of a choice — they simply can’t afford it. Many students would be better off spending the summer gaining valuable work or internship experience rather than face an insurmountable mountain of tuition payments, travel and living expenses and hidden fees. Exorbitantly-priced summer classes only further prove that while USC is taking steps in the right direction, it continues to maintain an illusion of affordability.

While it’s understandable that abroad trips require much planning in advance and coordination, the University’s programs need to be more transparent about what students are getting into. By clearly communicating upcoming summer offerings instead of sporadically posting them online, breaking down cost requirements and expectations through information sessions as well as highlighting alternative routes to finance courses, USC can make summer abroad offerings an exciting learning opportunity rather than a stressful, headache-inducing experience as students scramble to find funding and grants to make ends meet.