Additional SCholarships for Current Applicants (and Continuing Students)
If you’re a current applicant, you should have completed or be in the process of completing your financial aid application—assuming that you are applying for need-based aid. Of course, need-based aid is separate from merit scholarships.
When first-year students apply by November 1 or December 1—depending upon their program’s deadline—they are automatically considered for scholarships administered by the USC Office of Admission. Our largest include the half-tuition Presidential Scholarship and full-tuition Trustee Scholarship. Transfer students applying by December 1 or February 15—depending upon their program’s deadline—are automatically considered for the Transfer Merit Scholarship. All students are also considered for departmental awards, which are available through some academic schools.
Whether a student receives these scholarships or not, there are others for which they may be eligible to apply as incoming students. They may simply require a little additional work. And, of course, I’m not even talking about continuing student scholarships—which I’ll also discuss below.
Alumni Scholarships for Incoming Students
Our alumni are committed to helping students pay for the outstanding education at their alma mater. Some alumni scholarships are only open to continuing students. However, those that are open to incoming students include:
Black Alumni Association ($1,000-10,000)
Hong Kong Schools Alumni Federation (full tuition; first year only)
Jewish Leadership ($12,500; first year only)
Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association ($2,000-$12,000)
Latino Alumni Association ($2,000-$5,000)
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Native Leadership (half tuition; first year only)
Norman Topping Student Aid Fund (amounts vary with need)
For more information, review the scholarship grid or click on the specific scholarship above.
Outside Scholarships
Of course, incoming students can bring outside scholarships to USC. There are A LOT of scholarship websites out there. Our Financial Aid Office has identified a few of the most trusted free search platforms.
iGrad: USC curates its own list of iGrad scholarships for students.
Fastweb: This comprehensive database includes scholarships from various non-profit organizations, companies, and more!
Scholarships.com has a robust list of vetted scholarships.
Continuing Student Scholarships
A student would never want to commit to USC with the expectation of receiving a continuing student scholarship since there’s no guarantee of receiving one. However, it’s good to know that many exist to help current students make their education more affordable during their time at USC.
Alumni Awards
On the scholarship grid, you’ll see alumni awards for continuing students. In fact, some are only given to continuing students. These range in amount from $1,000 to $12,000 for undergraduates.
Scholarship Universe
In addition, through Scholarship Universe, you’ll find a variety of continuing student scholarships administered by various departments. Just a sampling includes:
USC Dream Dollars ($2,500), provided by the USC Career Center, for students who secure unpaid internships with a non-profit or government organization.
USC First-Generation Scholarship ($2,500), provided by the USC Career Center, for first-generation college students who secure unpaid summer internships.
Student Basic Needs Supplemental Funding ($1,000), provided by the Financial Aid Office, to help students who are experiencing sudden financial distress due to unforeseen circumstances.
Study Abroad Grants for the spring or fall semesters ($2,000), provided by the Financial Aid Office, to ensure students have access to these programs.
And even more alumni organization scholarships!
Awards and Fellowships Database
Undergraduate students can also search for additional funding through the university’s Awards and Fellowships Database. These include more niche scholarships such as the Émigré Memorial German Internship Program and Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. My quick search showed 56 available scholarships for undergraduates at the time of writing this blog article.
Funding for Research
Then there are research grants from different academic departments, which are usually a couple thousand dollars. Examples include travel grants to undergraduate students presenting at a professional conference to SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fund) to SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research) to the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fellowships.
Every dollar counts! So be sure to research all opportunities available to you—either as an incoming or continuing student.
Written by: Anne Aubert-Santelli, Associate Director, USC Office of Admission