Completing Your Financial Aid Application
Yes, you should apply for financial aid and aim to meet the deadlines even if you haven’t been accepted to the school. While we are unable to award funds unless you are ultimately accepted, meeting the priority deadlines best positions you to receive aid.
When you receive the SAR, carefully review the data shown. This information should match what you listed on your FAFSA. If it does not, you will need to make corrections. Contact financial aid manager Casey Wiley, and he can advise you about the best way to make those corrections. Note: changing the information online may require additional paperwork to clarify the information’s validity.
Financial Aid Timing and Deadlines
March 1 is the priority submission deadline for the FAFSA, and April 1 is the priority completion day. Review all the financial aid deadlines to stay on track.
Yes, but you may not be considered for some programs with limited funding.
It can take up to two weeks for us to receive your FAFSA, depending on the time of year. If the form has not been received within two weeks, make sure that you have listed the University of South Carolina (school code is 003448) as a recipient and that you’ve signed the FAFSA.
If you submitted your FAFSA before April 1, please be patient; aid is not processed until then. After April 1, please log into my.sc.edu to check whether the USC Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarship needs additional information from you.
Once you’ve paid your bill using financial aid on my.sc.edu, overage checks will begin being mailed or direct deposited around the first week of class; you will receive one-half of the amount in the fall and the other half in the spring.
Residency Requirements
All residency determinations are made by the Residency Office at the University of South Carolina.
The USC Residency Office provides a list of steps you must take to establish residency. Start this process early in your M1 year.