Paying the cost of attending a prestigious university was often seen as a guarantee of secured employment, professional networking, top faculty, and state of art facilities. But the pandemic has changed the experience, prompting some students to question if the high cost of tuition is worth it.

Students at USC are not the exception. They pay one of the highest tuition among top private universities across the country. Many of them are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to pay the price tag of attending such a prestigious institution. Isabel Castillo, a USC graduate, is one of them.

Castillo worked three jobs, skipped meals, and applied for student aid in her free time just to cover the cost of living while attending USC. Though, she is convinced it was worth it. “If USC is your dream school, one way or another, you have to make it happen,” she said.

Other students would completely disagree with Castillo, especially after an entire school year of virtual learning forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I simply don’t know how they can justify a tuition increase when we have no access to resources and our quality of learning is so obviously reduced,” said a student, who prefers to remain anonymous, as well as other several members affiliated to a group of students at USC Gould School of Law called “Gould Grievances” that Annenberg Media spoke to this summer.

The conversation around the cost of an education is one that has been highly debated in recent years. Most students are graduating with immense student debt, tuition is only getting more expensive even when educational experiences have been greatly impacted by the pandemic.

Adapting to remote learning was challenging for most students but this group of students in particular feel they are being “ripped off” after paying such pricey tuition.

In April of last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, Gould Grievances contacted the school’s administration to request either a tuition freeze or some form of financial reimbursement. The students argued that the school “failed” to provide financial support during the public health crisis.

Some of the nation’s top universities , including the University of Chicago freezed its tuition for the 2020-21 academic year last year, while USC Gould raised its tuition by 3.5%. According to an article by The Daily Trojan, the university made the decision prior to the pandemic.

Georgetown University provided a five percent tuition reduction, and UCLA created a Law Student Wellness Support Fund, which offered emergency grants up to $1,000. Other departments within USC provided aid, such as Annenberg’s emergency student aid fund, but Gould did not.

Gould Grievances questioned why the school couldn’t provide similar options. “Clearly, schools are within their ability to make exceptions, but USC [Gould] didn’t even try, which was the most frustrating thing,” said another student.

The students were met with no response until this past April when they opened their Instagram page under the same name. The group asked law students to submit anonymous responses about how the pandemic affected them and what their opinions were on the quality of their education.

The students of “Gould Grievances” were met with no response until this past April when they opened their Instagram page under the same name. The group asked law students to submit anonymous responses about how the pandemic affected them and what their opinions were on the quality of their education.

Three months later, Guzman responded to the students stating, “our goal is to provide the best student experience whether in person or online. I regret any instances in which you have felt otherwise.”

Guzman also stated that USC Gould could not alter the tuition decisions made and announced by the university.

Days later, the students also received a letter from the board of trustees stating, “at this time, we have no plans to consider a refund or reduction in tuition for Spring 2021 or upcoming semesters.”

Annenberg Media also contacted the board of trustees - the group that oversees tuition - but was told they received a large number of inquiries for “class projects, and unfortunately the trustees and university administrators don’t have the capacity to do interviews for them.”

The students said the poor response from the law school is particularly frustrating considering how USC Gould markets itself as a small law school where accessibility is top of mind. USC Gould has around 600 students compared to similarly ranked schools with 1,000 students.

“They admitted students like us for our leadership ability, our advocacy, our analytical skills," said one of the students interviewed by Annenberg Media. "Then when we try, and use those same qualities to advocate for ourselves and other students, we’re just stonewalled."

Randolph Beatty, an accounting professor and former dean at USC, explained that public institutions are under a lot more political scrutiny than private institutions because they are funded by the public. “The private schools, by their very nature of being private, are less open with information,” Beatty said. “So it's gonna be very hard for you to find exactly what you want to know.”

Private universities are not the only ones raising tuition. Public universities are doing the same. The University of California system recently approved a policy that would increase tuition by at least 1.5% each year starting with incoming students in fall of 2022. However, among private schools USC’s undergraduate tuition is increasing at a rate that is higher than that average.

USC is currently charging their undergrads over $2,000 per unit, after this year’s tuition hike. Though 70% of tuition goes toward instruction and institutional costs, some students feel as though the financial liabilities outweigh the quality of education.

After losing the financial support of his family’s business, Suhit Agarwal, an international undergrad student from India, suddenly needed a loan to stay enrolled at USC. Agarwal was not able to take out a loan through the school, nor was he able to get a job due to the pandemic. International students are required to submit proof of solvency to pay the tuition in full before they enroll.

International students are not only a main source of revenue for private and public universities, but according to a , foreign students contributed $44.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018.

Unfortunately for them, when these students or their families experience financial difficulties, the support they get from their institutions is very limited. Agarwal’s only option was to get a loan through a private entity, which required a U.S. cosigner. He described his debt as being always, “in the back of my head, like a nagging thing.”

He is projected to pay his loan within 20 years, if he’s lucky.

To minimize student debt for low income students, USC recently enacted free tuition to any undergrad whose parents make less than $80,000 a year. Despite these efforts, private institutions, including USC, have a long way to go in addressing disparities among their own students and making education more affordable for all.

“You are just paying for that connection, that circle, that trojan network,” said Hana Li, a Senator for the Undergraduate Student Government at USC (not speaking on its behalf). “We can complain all we want, but at the end of the day they’re the ones that hold the power because if a few students want to stop paying tuition, it’s honestly not that big of a deal for them, because they can always get other students who are willing to pay that price.”

With no one to tell them otherwise, if USC did decide to go against the increasing cost of an education, it would have to be under its own accord. Until then, students say they have no choice but to stay persistent in trying to bring about change.

“When we talk about who is going to hold them accountable: it has to be students,” said Nivea Krishnan, another USG Senator. “We need every student advocating so we can create a more accessible institution.”