About Title IV Authorization Forms:

Did you receive an email from Student Financial Services entitled 'Important Information About Your Title IV Financial Aid', sent to your official USC email address, which included the text below?

If you have received this email please read it and the authorization forms it refers to carefully.  If you did not receive this email it is likely that you are either not receiving any federal student loan funds or you have previously signed this authorization.

Federal regulations authorize the University of Southern California to administer Title IV financial aid funds. Title IV funds are financial aid you may receive in your financial aid package from the University which include:

• Federal Pell Grant Program
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
• Federal Perkins Loan Program (FPLP)
• Federal Education Loan Program (FFELP)
• Stafford Loan Program - Subsidized and Unsubsidized
• Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
• Graduate PLUS Loan (Grad PLUS)
• Federal Work Study Program (FWSP) - requires student employment and payment is made by check directly to the student for work performed by individual department.

Federal regulations stipulate that Title IV financial aid funds can not be applied to your student account until ten (10) days prior to the first day of classes. Federal regulations further require that the University apply your Title IV financial aid funds to "allowable charges", which are tuition, mandatory fees, and university contracted housing and board charges. The University also allows many departments to assess charges to your student account in order to consolidate billing. Some of these charges might include: Parking Permit fees, USCard (which most students use to purchase books and other items on campus), and Health Center charges. Under federal regulations the University must obtain your written authorization to apply your Title IV financial aid to all charges appearing on your student account. 

If you wish to sign the 'authorization to apply Title IV funds to all charges' so that your account can be settled immediately upon receipt of your loan funds, please do so as soon as possible.  If this signed authorization form is not received prior to the settlement due date, the Title IV financial Aid funds will not be applied to all charges. This may result in an outstanding balance on your student account and would cause late charges to be assessed. You are not required to sign this authorization and if signed, you may rescind the authorization at any time, once the authorization is signed the Secretary of Education considers the initial authorization to continue to be valid for future years so long as the University notifies the student/parent in subsequent years before applying the Title IV financial aid to the student’s account. 

If you wish to authorize USC to keep excess Title IV funds in your student account for future charges such as housing, you will need to sign this Authorization and return it to the Cashier's Office as explained in the email you received.  If you do not wish to sign this form, the University must automatically mail a refund of any remaining excess credit balance which remains on your student account at the end of the third week of classes.