The University of Southern California is one of the world’s leading private research universities. An anchor institution in Los Angeles, a global center for arts, technology and international business, USC’s diverse curricular offerings provide extensive opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration with leading researchers in highly advanced learning environments.
The University of Southern California is one of the world’s leading private research universities. An anchor institution in Los Angeles, a global center for arts, technology and international business, USC’s diverse curricular offerings provide extensive opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration with leading researchers in highly advanced learning environments.
The number of students who are the first in their families to attend USC has been growing steadily for five years — 23 percent of the incoming class are first-generation college students, and 32 percent of the Class of 2025 are students of color. With one of the most abundant financial aid pools in the country, USC provides more than $640 million in scholarships and aid. Students from families earning $80,000 or less each year attend tuition-free under a new USC initiative to make college more affordable for lower and middle-income families.
USC’s distinguished faculty of 4,000 innovative scholars, researchers, teachers and mentors includes five Nobel laureates, and dozens of recipients of prestigious national honors including the MacArthur “Genius” Award, Guggenheim Award, the National Medal of the Arts, the National Humanities Medal, the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and Pulitzer Prize.
USC first opened its doors to 53 students and 10 teachers in 1880, when the newly founded “city” still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones and a reliable fire alarm system. Today, USC is home to 49,500 students and 4,700 full-time faculty, and is located in the heart of one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the world.