One year of tuition at USC now costs at least $73,260. That price tag has risen more than $10,000 in five years, and increased by about 5% for four consecutive years.
This mirrors the increase of last year. USC has raised tuition for the sixth year in a row, bringing the estimated 2025-26 cost of attendance to $99,139, according to the USC Financial Aid webpage.
Tuition has risen more than 25% under President Carol Folt’s tenure.
The total increase has to do with rises in costs for university tuition, fees, and other necessities, like housing, textbooks and meal plans.
Just one month ago, USC more than doubled the price of mandatory meal plans for freshmen and sophomores. The plans now cost almost $2,000 for 120 meal swipes.
The tuition increase comes at an already financially tense time on campus. The White House announced pauses on financial aid like loans and grants in January, which students say is the only way they are “surviving” with the costs of attendance.
Community members have raised separate concerns about the university’s finances.
One year ago, administrators warned some deans that “fairly substantial budget-trimming” across departments was to come, according to the USC American Association for University Professors (AAUP) chapter president.
Late last semester, the Daily Trojan published an editorial demanding more control over their budget after USC Student Life slashed their funding so severely they could no longer afford to pay anyone on staff or publish daily.
In an interview with Annenberg Media and the Daily Trojan, Folt said she believed “[USC has] not done much cost-cutting that has actually affected students directly.”
Professors and students have also questioned the costs of ongoing security measures, including mandatory ID checks, added fences around campus and increased security guards. USC has not commented on these costs.
In the same interview, Folt said concerns by community members about budgeting were “usually one thing just happened that they didn’t like.”