University of Southern California to offer max $8,000 to some students to not return to dorms

The University of Southern California’s financial aid office has announced that it will award up to $8,000 to students who would normally receive financial aid for housing but decide to stay off campus this school year, according to CNN. 

“For most of you, it has been difficult to plan for the year ahead without knowing where you will be living in the fall,” USC’s Dean of Financial Aid Thomas McWhorter said in an email to students on Tuesday, obtained by CNN.

Due to the surge in coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles area, USC said that it needed to “dramatically reduce our on-campus density and all indoor activities for the fall semester” in a letter sent to students on July 1.

The scholarship money will be awarded to students after student housing plans are finalized, according to McWhorter’s email. Students are eligible to receive $4,000 for each the fall and spring semesters.

Off campus students will receive the maximum amount of financial aid credit from the university, the letter states. USC said in a letter they have to “dramatically reduce our on-campus density and all indoor activities for the fall semester.”

Some classes will use a hybrid format, the letter states, combining both in-person and online class sessions. But only 10% to 20% of classes will be in person, the university said.