The following options are available to cover your cost of attendance balance (after financial aid is applied, if applicable). You can pay in several ways:

• Family savings or current income. (Pay the USC Cashier's Office directly)
• With the USC Payment Plan, which enables students to establish a line of credit for tuition, fees, university housing and other student expenses. The plan is billed in five monthly installments per semester. There is a fee of $40. For more information, visit the Student Financial Services website.
• With the USC Pre-payment Plan which allows you to prepay up to five years of full-time tuition and mandatory fees for students who have been admitted to the university.  For more information, visit the Student Financial Services website.
• With loans for all or part of this amount. We recommend that student and parents to apply for loans to cover the entire academic year.

FEDERAL LOANS

• If you choose to take out loans for all or part of the family contribution, start with the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan. It has a low fixed interest rate (currently 7.9%), requires no collateral and does not impose an early repayment penalty.
• If (and only if) the parents were declined for the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, the student may take out an additional Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan to cover part of the family contribution.

STUDENT PRIVATE FINANCING

In most cases, students who choose to use private financing to cover all, or part, of the family contribution will need a credit-worthy co-borrower. Applying with a credit-worthy co-borrower may substantially reduce interest and fees on a private financing loan. For more information, see the Private Financing section of this website.