USC partially walks back major benefit cut

USC partially walked back a major employee benefit cut it had planned to announce this week.

At question is the Tuition Assistance Benefits program, which promises to pay USC undergraduate tuition for the children of most full-time employees.

Morning, Trojan reported last week that the school planned to make significant cuts to the program, like no longer offering to pay graduate tuition and reducing the aid that spouses can receive.

The school is still axing those benefits.

But a major planned cut that had caused some of the most outrage is no longer in danger.

Known as the 15-year letter, the benefit promises to pay tuition at USC for the children of employees who work at the school for more than 15 years, even if they later leave their jobs. It applies to employees hired prior to July 1, 2011.

“This is a good start,” said a staff member who has vocally protested the cuts. “It restores some of the promises that were made previously — but not all of them.”

The official announcement comes more than a week after the school shared the cuts with a limited number of employees in the Academic Senate and Staff Assembly.

James Moore, a professor emeritus who was at the Senate meeting, warned at the time that employees would go “absolutely apeshit” when they heard the news.

He wasn’t wrong.

Staff members eviscerated the university in public LinkedIn posts. Faculty said in interviews that they were “pissed.” Some employees even started organizing groups to protest the cuts — and have suggested that legal action is a possibility.

“We apologize for any confusion and ensuing frustration that has arisen over the past week,” USC wrote in a letter sent to its full-time employees.