At USC, we recognize that many students and their families need assistance in meeting the costs of an outstanding private education. Below is important information about financial resources for USC Thornton students.
Undergraduate Students
USC Financial Aid
U.S. citizens (and some eligible non-citizens) can qualify for need-based financial aid. Regardless of a family’s financial circumstances, all eligible applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for university need-based aid.
The USC Financial Aid Office strives to meet each undergraduate student’s full demonstrated financial need, and the process for doing so requires the applicant to adhere to strict deadlines and provide considerable documentation. It is important to plan ample time to complete the process and follow all deadlines closely. Specific information on USC’s financial aid program and complete financial aid application instructions can be found at financialaid.usc.edu.
Eligible first-year undergraduates from families with an annual income of $80,000 or less with typical assets will attend USC tuition-free. More information about USC’s affordability initiative is available at affordability.usc.edu.
USC Merit Scholarships
All first-year undergraduate applicants who submit a complete application by December 1 are considered for the USC Trustee, Presidential and Deans scholarships. All transfer applicants who submit a complete application by December 1 are considered for the Transfer Merit scholarship. Thornton applicants are not required to interview for consideration for these scholarships. Only admitted undergraduates who are selected to receive one of these awards will be notified; they should receive notification by April 1 for first-year students and June 1 for transfer students.
For detailed information about merit scholarships offered to undergraduate applicants by USC, please click here.
Other Possible Sources of Aid
Students are encouraged to explore other possible sources of financial aid. Terms and eligibility requirements vary considerably for the many types of financial aid that are available.
We recommend that students explore the following resources for other possible USC scholarships:
- USC Alumni Associations: https://alumni.usc.edu/alumni-scholarships/
- Town and Gown of USC: https://townandgownofusc.org/scholarship/information/
- USC Scholarship Universe: https://usc.scholarshipuniverse.com/public
- USC’s Awards and Fellowships Database: https://awardsdatabase.usc.edu/app/
Students can also search for scholarships outside of USC through scholarship searches found online:
- CollegeBoard: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
- Fastweb: https://www.fastweb.com
- MajoringinMusic.com: https://majoringinmusic.com/scholarships-for-music-majors/
- Scholarships.com: https://www.scholarships.com
Any scholarships you receive will not be in addition to other forms of need-based financial aid but will change the composition of USC-calculated financial aid eligibility. In most cases, USC Financial Aid will allow outside scholarships to reduce the students loan’s or Federal Work-Study in a financial aid package. Please contact USC Financial Aid with questions about how specific scholarships will affect financial aid eligibility.
Tuition and Fee Estimates
Graduate Students
USC Financial Aid
U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and some eligible non-citizens can qualify for student loans up to the total cost of attendance, as well as work-study funding. Specific information on USC’s financial aid program and complete financial aid application instructions can be found at financialaid.usc.edu.
Most graduate students are eligible for the following loans:
- Stafford Direct Loan — $20,500 per year
- Grad Plus Loan — up to the total cost of attendance (tuition + living expenses)
Music Scholarships
Scholarships are available to graduate students in most USC Thornton programs.
Graduate students pursuing degrees in Arts Leadership and Music Industry are not eligible for Thornton scholarship awards. Graduate students pursuing degrees in Community Music, Music Teaching and Learning, and Screen Scoring are considered for a limited number of scholarships.
Students in all other Thornton graduate programs are eligible for funding from a variety of sources including scholarships, teaching assistantships, and USC fellowships. Consideration for scholarships is based on the following: 1) a recommendation from the faculty of the department of a student’s major and 2) availability of funding. It must be noted, however, that a faculty recommendation for USC Thornton School of Music merit aid does not guarantee that a student will be awarded a scholarship.
Students admitted to scholarship-eligible programs are only notified if they are to receive an award and, in general, will receive such notification via email by April 1.
Teaching Assistantships
For detailed information about our graduate teaching assistantships, please click here.
Other Possible Sources of Aid
Students are encouraged to explore other possible sources of financial aid. Terms and eligibility requirements vary considerably for the many types of financial aid that are available.
We recommend that students explore the following resources for other possible USC scholarships:
- Town and Gown of USC: https://townandgownofusc.org/scholarship/information/
- USC Scholarship Universe: https://usc.scholarshipuniverse.com/public
- USC’s Awards and Fellowships Database: https://awardsdatabase.usc.edu/app/
Students can also search for scholarships outside of USC through scholarship searches found online:
- Fastweb: https://www.fastweb.com
- MajoringinMusic.com: https://majoringinmusic.com/scholarships-for-music-majors/
- Scholarships.com: https://www.scholarships.com