The Academic Achievement Award (AAA) and Exceptional Funding will remain in place, following significant backlash against the decision to discontinue the award. Students say the university’s willingness to listen to their feedback is encouraging.
As Annenberg Media previously reported, AAA is not set to undergo any changes and will continue to provide a tuition benefit for students who wish to “register for up to 21 units at the standard full-time tuition rate” as long as they meet the required GPA of 3.75, according to USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew T. Guzman.
“We received feedback from the community about sunsetting the programs, including from students affected by this change, and we listened. Supporting our students is a top priority of all of us at USC,” Guzman said in an announcement. “Funding will continue for current students who included this tuition benefit in their academic plans.”
Both affected and unaffected students were upset about the announcement of AAA’s removal on March 7th. Students turned to social media to voice their anger, starting their own petition and posting it across social media sites, with many commenting on how disappointing the announcement was.
“I have a lot of friends who have been personally affected by it…they were trying really hard for the threshold they needed,” said Jackie Pham, a junior majoring in electrical engineering. She said that to avoid any extended periods of worry again, “[USC] can avoid that whole process by just getting a better idea of the student body’s opinion first before doing those kinds of acts.”
Pham said that the reinstatement of AAA proves that student voices are powerful and can create change. She believes that “a lot of our funds should be redirected to academic programs. For instance, PED, the physical education building, doesn’t even have AC.”
Tawana RavalI, a sophomore majoring in business administration, was shocked to see that they overturned the decision. She emphasized the importance of students’ voices in the decision.
“We don’t directly see our power being displayed so high up in these big decisions, so even though we weren’t involved in the initial decision, we’re able to be involved in the final decision,” she said. “This time, they actually thought critically, put into action what the people were saying, and took that time to listen. So, I’m glad that they didn’t completely shut down the door.”
USC President Carol Folt commented about the program during an interview with Annenberg Media. “This is one of the more important programs…it’s what’s really promoting students to do multidisciplinary,” she said, adding that the decision to cut AAA was done hastily.
“We’re not afraid to change our mind. Normally, I think we try to vet it as much as we can before we do it. So you don’t do it very often. But I think that was an important one,” Folt said.