Over the last few weeks, USC had been declaring and changing their decisions about the status of the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding.
The AAA is a program that provides a tuition benefit for students to register for up to 21 units per semester at the standard full-time tuition rate given that they meet GPA requirements of 3.75. This award is beneficial to those pursuing a multiple major or minor degree.
Exceptional Funding covers tuition for Presidential and Trustee scholars who wish to enroll in more than 18 units during a semester. Exceptional Funding can be used to afford additional academic courses throughout the duration of scholarship eligibility.
In an email sent out on March. 8, USC shared that the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding will be discontinued starting Fall 2024.
However, On March. 15, Andrew McConnell Stott, USC’s vice provost for academic programs and the dean of the graduate school, said the Academic Achievement Award (AAA) program wouldn’t be completely discontinued, and that the AAA would be available to students who graduate by August ‘25.
On the other hand, Stott had this to say.
Stott: No new incoming students with Presidential or Trustee scholarships will be able to access Exceptional Funding moving forward, but current students who have that as part of their admission letter, they can still access it until they graduate.
These decisions spiked outrage from the students at USC. Among them, senior theater major Shaina Franks had this to say about the issue.
Shaina Franks: I did know that you know the university doesn’t always respond to outrage from students but I also knew that this was like a new level.
Finally, on March 25th, the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding was reinstated with the same eligibility criteria.
Andrew T. Guzman, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs wrote in a letter to Annenberg Media: 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.
There are no additional details available beyond the provided letter.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Alea Motwane.