USC will offer free tuition to students from families making $80K or less

Future University of Southern California students from families with an annual household income of $80,000 or less will attend the university tuition-free under a new initiative announced Thursday.

The plan will be phased in at the Los Angeles private college starting with first-year students entering the university in fall 2020 and spring 2021, according to a release. Additionally, the university's financial need calculations will no longer consider home ownership.

The $80,000 threshold is comfortably above California's median household income of about $71,000, according to U.S. Census data.

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College costs have skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent decades. Even after adjusting for inflation, a year of private college costs more than two-and-a-half times what it did in in 1971, according to 24/7 WallStreet.

Some state schools have tried to ease the burden for low- and middle-income students with free tuition programs.

Democratic presidential hopefuls, including U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have proposed sweeping plans they said would eliminate billions in student loan debt while greatly reducing the price of college.

USC estimates about one-third of new students in fall 2020 and spring 2021 will benefit from the program. The University says tuition for the 2019-2020 academic year costs $57,256. Room and board for the same academic year is estimated at nearly $16,000. 

Contributing: Chris Quintana, USA TODAY; The Associated Press