Breaking: USC slashes scholarships for National Merit Finalists

USC will dramatically reduce a merit scholarship it offers for students who earned elite scores on their high school PSAT exams.

Those students, known as National Merit Finalists, have historically enjoyed half-tuition scholarships — $34,952 this year, according to financial aid documents viewed by Morning, Trojan.

That number is now $20,000.

Students who currently receive the scholarship will not be affected by the roughly 43% reduction, a university spokesperson said. Still, the cuts will no doubt factor into the college decisions of some of the nation’s highest-performing high school students as the peak of the admissions season approaches.

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