BREAKING: USC will reinstate the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding, Provost Andrew Guzman confirmed in a letter to the Daily Trojan Monday afternoon. The University cited “feedback from the community” as the reason behind their decision to no longer sunset the two programs. The AAA will “remain in place with its present eligibility criteria, and Presidential and Trustee Scholars will continue to be eligible for Exceptional Funding,” Guzman wrote.

“We are committed to honoring the academic potential of all students, regardless of background or financial means,” Guzman wrote. “We will continue to work with all of our students to ensure they can meet their academic goals.”

This comes weeks after the Daily Trojan reported the University would be shuttering the two programs, a change that USC announced only to academic advisors.

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function extend(destination, source) {
for (var prop in source) {
destination[prop] = source[prop];
}
}

if (!Mimi) var Mimi = {};
if (!Mimi.Signups) Mimi.Signups = {};

Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation = function() {
this.initialize();

var _this = this;
if (document.addEventListener) {
this.form.addEventListener(‘submit’, function(e){
_this.onFormSubmit(e);
});
} else {
this.form.attachEvent(‘onsubmit’, function(e){
_this.onFormSubmit(e);
});
}
};

extend(Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation.prototype, {
initialize: function() {
this.form = document.getElementById(’ema_signup_form’);
this.submit = document.getElementById(‘webform_submit_button’);
this.callbackName = ‘jsonp_callback_’ + Math.round(100000 * Math.random());
this.validEmail = /.+@.+..+/
},

onFormSubmit: function(e) {
e.preventDefault();

this.validate();
if (this.isValid) {
this.submitForm();
} else {
this.revalidateOnChange();
}
},

validate: function() {
this.isValid = true;
this.emailValidation();
this.fieldAndListValidation();
this.updateFormAfterValidation();
},

emailValidation: function() {
var email = document.getElementById(‘signup_email’);

if (this.validEmail.test(email.value)) {
this.removeTextFieldError(email);
} else {
this.textFieldError(email);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

fieldAndListValidation: function() {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll(‘.mimi_field.required’);

for (var i = 0; i = 0) {
return ‘checkboxes’;
} else {
return ‘text_field’;
}
},

checkboxAndRadioValidation: function(field) {
var inputs = field.getElementsByTagName(‘input’),
selected = false;

for (var i = 0; i < inputs.length; ++i) {
var input = inputs[i];
if((input.type === 'checkbox' || input.type === 'radio') && input.checked) {
selected = true;
}
}

if (selected) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) {
field.className += ' invalid';
}

this.isValid = false;
}
},

textAndDropdownValidation: function(field, type) {
var inputs = field.getElementsByTagName('input');

for (var i = 0; i = 0) {
if (type === ‘text_field’) {
this.textValidation(input);
} else {
this.dropdownValidation(field, input);
}
}
}
this.htmlEmbedDropdownValidation(field);
},

textValidation: function(input) {
if (input.id === ‘signup_email’) return;

if (input.value) {
this.removeTextFieldError(input);
} else {
this.textFieldError(input);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

dropdownValidation: function(field, input) {
if (input.value) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, ”);
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf(‘invalid’) === -1) field.className += ‘ invalid’;
this.onSelectCallback(input);
this.isValid = false;
}
},

htmlEmbedDropdownValidation: function(field) {
var dropdowns = field.querySelectorAll(‘.mimi_html_dropdown’);
var _this = this;

for (var i = 0; i < dropdowns.length; ++i) {
var dropdown = dropdowns[i];

if (dropdown.value) {
field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');
} else {
if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) field.className += ' invalid';
this.isValid = false;
dropdown.onchange = (function(){ _this.validate(); });
}
}
},

textFieldError: function(input) {
input.className = 'required invalid';
input.placeholder = input.getAttribute('data-required-field');
},

removeTextFieldError: function(input) {
input.className = 'required';
input.placeholder = '';
},

onSelectCallback: function(input) {
if (typeof Widget === 'undefined' || !Widget.BasicDropdown) return;

var dropdownEl = input.parentNode,
instances = Widget.BasicDropdown.instances,
_this = this;

for (var i = 0; i < instances.length; ++i) {
var instance = instances[i];
if (instance.wrapperEl === dropdownEl) {
instance.onSelect = function(){ _this.validate() };
}
}
},

updateFormAfterValidation: function() {
this.form.className = this.setFormClassName();
this.submit.value = this.submitButtonText();
this.submit.disabled = !this.isValid;
this.submit.className = this.isValid ? 'submit' : 'disabled';
},

setFormClassName: function() {
var name = this.form.className;

if (this.isValid) {
return name.replace(/s?mimi_invalid/, '');
} else {
if (name.indexOf('mimi_invalid') === -1) {
return name += ' mimi_invalid';
} else {
return name;
}
}
},

submitButtonText: function() {
var invalidFields = document.querySelectorAll('.invalid'),
text;

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text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-default-text');
} else {
if (invalidFields.length || invalidFields[0].className.indexOf('checkgroup') === -1) {
text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-invalid-text');
} else {
text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-choose-list');
}
}
return text;
},

submitForm: function() {
this.formSubmitting();

var _this = this;
window[this.callbackName] = function(response) {
delete window[this.callbackName];
document.body.removeChild(script);
_this.onSubmitCallback(response);
};

var script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = this.formUrl('json');
document.body.appendChild(script);
},

formUrl: function(format) {
var action = this.form.action;
if (format === 'json') action += '.json';
return action + '?callback=' + this.callbackName + '&' + serialize(this.form);
},

formSubmitting: function() {
this.form.className += ' mimi_submitting';
this.submit.value = this.submit.getAttribute('data-submitting-text');
this.submit.disabled = true;
this.submit.className = 'disabled';
},

onSubmitCallback: function(response) {
if (response.success) {
this.onSubmitSuccess(response.result);
} else {
top.location.href = this.formUrl('html');
}
},

onSubmitSuccess: function(result) {
if (result.has_redirect) {
top.location.href = result.redirect;
} else if(result.single_opt_in || !result.confirmation_html) {
this.disableForm();
this.updateSubmitButtonText(this.submit.getAttribute('data-thanks'));
} else {
this.showConfirmationText(result.confirmation_html);
}
},

showConfirmationText: function(html) {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll('.mimi_field');

for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i) {
fields[i].style['display'] = 'none';
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(this.form.querySelectorAll('fieldset')[0] || this.form).innerHTML = html;
},

disableForm: function() {
var elements = this.form.elements;
for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; ++i) {
elements[i].disabled = true;
}
},

updateSubmitButtonText: function(text) {
this.submit.value = text;
},

revalidateOnChange: function() {
var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll(".mimi_field.required"),
_this = this;

var onTextFieldChange = function() {
if (this.getAttribute('name') === 'signup[email]') {
if (_this.validEmail.test(this.value)) _this.validate();
} else {
if (this.value.length === 1) _this.validate();
}
}

for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i) {
var inputs = fields[i].getElementsByTagName('input');
for (var j = 0; j < inputs.length; ++j) {
if (this.fieldType(fields[i]) === 'text_field') {
inputs[j].onkeyup = onTextFieldChange;
inputs[j].onchange = onTextFieldChange;
} else {
inputs[j].onchange = function(){ _this.validate() };
}
}
}
}
});

if (document.addEventListener) {
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() {
new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();
});
}
else {
window.attachEvent('onload', function() {
new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();
});
}
})(this);

On March 15, the Office of Academic Programs, in a compromise following backlash and petitions, announced the AAA would see its eligibility extended to those graduating as late as August 2025, and that Exceptional Funding would only extend to eligible students “enrolled in USC courses BEFORE Fall 2024,” meaning that new merit scholars would not have been able to access this opportunity.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.