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University of Southern California

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University of Southern California Overview

Located in Los Angeles, California, University of Southern California is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.

What Is University of Southern California Known For?

5,447 Undergraduate Awards
$55,651 Avg Cost After Aid
16% Acceptance Rate
  • Students at USC may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 9 to 1.
  • The student loan default rate at USC is 1%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at USC.
  • In 2017-2018, 62% of the faculty were full-time.
  • A student who earns a bachelor's degree from USC makes roughly $74,000 a year. This is 81% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
  • The average USC student graduates in 4.2 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Best Schools

University of Southern California Rankings

USC landed the #80 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 204 colleges in California, it is ranked at #12.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

USC has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#37 Best Graduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#48 Best Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#57 Best Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#65 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at USC.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Real Estate Development Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Other Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#1 Best Gerontology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#2 Best Student Counseling Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#21 Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#22 Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#38 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#56 Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards USC has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#3 Best Nursing Schools Nursing Degree Search
#10 Best Public Administration & Social Service Schools College Factual
#13 Best Education Schools College Factual
#13 Best Communication & Journalism Schools College Factual
#24 Best Health Professions Schools College Factual
#25 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual

Where Is University of Southern California?

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Contact details for USC are given below.

Contact Details
Address: University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Phone: 213-740-2311
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/usc

How Do I Get Into USC?

You can apply to USC online at: https://www.commonapp.org/

Admission Requirements for USC

Submission Required?
High School GPA required
High School Rank neither required nor recommended
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program required
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into USC?

16% Acceptance Rate
52% Of Accepted Are Women
66% Submit SAT Scores
The acceptance rate at USC is 16%, which means the school is highly selective when deciding who will be admitted and who won't. Even if you have great grades and test scores, that may not be enough. So be sure to look for ways to make your application memorable.

Approximately 48% of accepted students are men and 52% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 17%, and the acceptance rate for women is 16%.

Average Test Scores

About 66% of students accepted to USC submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 660 and 740. Math scores were between 680 and 790.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for University of Southern California  ( 660 to 740 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for University of Southern California  ( 680 to 790 )
200
800
USC received ACT scores from 41% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 32 and 35. Math scores were between 28 and 34. Composite scores were between 30 and 34.

ACT English Scores for University of Southern California  ( 32 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for University of Southern California  ( 28 to 34 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for University of Southern California  ( 30 to 34 )
1
36

Can I Afford University of Southern California?

$55,651 Net Price
28% Take Out Loans
1.2% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of USC is $55,651. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At USC, approximately 28% of students took out student loans averaging $7,798 a year. That adds up to $31,192 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at USC is 1.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

University of Southern California Undergraduate Student Diversity

18,560 Full-Time Undergraduates
52% Women
52% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 19,786 undergraduate students at USC, with 18,560 being full-time and 1,226 being part-time.

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There are also 26,501 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 18,560 full-time undergraduates at USC, 48% are male and 52% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of University of Southern California students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 4,369
Black or African American 960
Hispanic or Latino 3,095
White 6,370
International Students 2,245
Other Races/Ethnicities 1,521

Geographic Diversity

California students aren't the only ones who study at University of Southern California. At this time, all 50 states are represented by the student population at the school.

At this time, 50 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 130 countries are represented at USC. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at University of Southern California

37,923 Took All Classes Online
41,112 Took At Least One Class Online
122.9% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 41,112 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at USC has changed over the last few years.

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This school is the 2nd most popular in California for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of USC

The following table shows how USC is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Urban Studies #1 #1
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences #1 #1
Petroleum Engineering #4 #4
Operations Research #13 #13
Computer Software & Applications #19 #19
Other Health Professions #19 #19
Geography & Cartography #24 #24
Biomedical Engineering #25 #25
Materials Engineering #25 #25
Construction Management #25 #25
Chemical Engineering #28 #28
Educational Assessment #28 #28
Taxation #34 #34
Gerontology #40 #40
Other Engineering #53 #53
Legal Professions #58 #58
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering #67 #67
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies #70 #70
Industrial Engineering #72 #72
Systems Engineering #73 #73

Online Affordability Rankings of USC Rankings

The following table shows how USC is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.

Major Tuition for In-State Students Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Gerontology #7 #7
Educational Assessment #13 #13
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies #28 #28

Online Growth Rankings of USC

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at University of Southern California was 122.9%. This is the #372 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at USC regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of USC majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major 1-Year Growth Rate
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 6%
Business, Management & Marketing 7%
Educational Assessment 24%
Health Professions 6%
Human Resource Management 53%
Legal Professions 8%
Legal Research 19%
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies 2%
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 49%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at USC ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at USC.

Major Growth Rate Rank
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences #1
Gerontology #1
Intelligence & Command Control Operations #2
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences #2
Educational Assessment #7
Legal Research #16
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies #37
Legal Professions #39
Human Resource Management #56
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies #86
Criminal Justice & Corrections #89
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting #113
Education #188
Health Professions #223
Business Administration & Management #229
Business, Management & Marketing #328

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

University of Southern California Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Business Administration & Management 1,020 112 575 12 1,719
Social Work 0 0 1,200 152 1,352
Computer Science 247 0 996 30 1,273
Legal Professions (Other) 0 669 0 0 669
Legal Research 0 146 521 0 667
Electrical Engineering 60 0 542 47 649
Communication & Media Studies 314 5 289 14 622
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 86 509 0 595
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 224 0 173 9 406
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 14 0 158 183 355
Public Health 104 0 243 6 353
Educational Administration 0 0 69 277 346
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 0 17 119 209 345
Teacher Education Subject Specific 0 0 304 0 304
Economics 183 0 80 4 267
Accounting 189 0 72 0 261
Health & Medical Administrative Services 0 42 187 0 229
Applied Mathematics 114 0 109 6 229
Human Resource Management 0 0 216 0 216
Other Engineering 0 0 213 0 213
Music 61 32 81 38 212
Mechanical Engineering 96 0 96 13 205
International Relations & National Security 194 0 1 7 202
Human Biology 194 0 0 0 194
Law 0 0 0 189 189
Drama & Theater Arts 145 0 41 0 186
Public Relations & Advertising 100 0 79 0 179
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 59 0 120 0 179
Public Administration 0 0 175 0 175
Dentistry 0 0 0 173 173
Medicine 0 0 0 173 173
Public Policy 46 27 96 2 171
General Psychology 156 0 9 0 165
Real Estate Development 124 15 25 0 164
Political Science & Government 164 0 0 0 164
Architectural Sciences & Technology 67 3 89 0 159
Gerontology 15 3 132 3 153
Journalism 78 0 71 0 149
Computer Information Systems 1 0 146 0 147
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 43 0 91 7 141
Teaching English or French 0 0 122 0 122
Biomedical Engineering 51 0 48 17 116
Arts & Media Management 81 13 22 0 116
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 98 0 1 13 112
Civil Engineering 25 1 74 8 108
Nursing 0 0 108 0 108
Student Counseling 0 0 106 0 106
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 0 0 106 0 106
Entrepreneurial Studies 0 0 102 0 102
International Business 46 0 56 0 102
Computer Software & Applications 27 0 72 0 99
Computer Engineering 42 1 51 1 95
Industrial Engineering 54 0 31 9 94
Fine & Studio Arts 61 11 18 1 91
Special Education 0 88 0 0 88
Chemical Engineering 41 0 32 13 86
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 0 54 28 2 84
General Biology 78 0 0 1 79
Natural Resources Conservation 55 0 22 0 77
Geography & Cartography 13 20 39 0 72
Sociology 62 0 2 5 69
Marketing 0 47 21 0 68
History 64 0 0 3 67
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 7 0 44 15 66
Urban & Regional Planning 6 0 52 7 65
Dispute Resolution 0 20 45 0 65
Taxation 0 0 64 0 64
Cognitive Science 61 0 0 0 61
Philosophy 55 0 0 3 58
Design & Applied Arts 33 0 25 0 58
Materials Engineering 0 0 51 0 51
Allied Health Professions 0 0 49 0 49
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 24 0 13 9 46
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 0 0 35 10 45
Mental & Social Health Services 0 0 45 0 45
Chemistry 9 0 6 29 44
General English Literature 34 0 4 5 43
Writing Studies 34 0 9 0 43
Petroleum Engineering 0 0 38 4 42
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 0 0 40 0 40
Romance Languages 40 0 0 0 40
Library & Information Science 0 0 40 0 40
Urban Studies 13 0 19 5 37
Real Estate 34 0 0 0 34
Other Health Professions 0 5 9 19 33
Physics 23 0 3 7 33
General Visual & Performing Arts 18 0 15 0 33
Systems Engineering 0 5 27 0 32
Area Studies 22 0 5 3 30
Hospitality Management 0 28 0 0 28
Engineering-Related Fields 28 0 0 0 28
Environmental Engineering 1 0 22 4 27
Geological & Earth Sciences 12 0 2 13 27
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 12 1 8 5 26
General Social Sciences 26 0 0 0 26
Information Technology 0 0 25 0 25
East Asian Languages 21 0 1 2 24
Anthropology 15 0 8 0 23
Mathematics 13 0 6 3 22
Educational Assessment 0 0 21 0 21
Dental Support Services 21 0 0 0 21
Other Education 0 0 0 20 20
Other Public Administration 0 1 19 0 20
Ethnic Studies 13 6 0 0 19
Pharmacology & Toxicology 11 0 4 3 18
International Studies 6 0 12 0 18
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 0 0 16 0 16
Dance 16 0 0 0 16
Child Development & Psychology 0 0 0 14 14
Finance & Financial Management 0 12 0 0 12
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 0 0 11 11
Construction Management 0 0 11 0 11
Biotechnology 0 0 10 0 10
Materials Sciences 0 0 5 5 10
General Architecture 9 0 0 0 9
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 0 0 4 5 9
Medical Science 0 4 5 0 9
Historic Preservation 0 3 6 0 9
Architecture (Other) 0 0 8 0 8
Genetics 0 0 1 6 7
Operations Research 0 0 7 0 7
Classical Languages & Literature 5 0 2 0 7
Statistics 0 0 7 0 7
Environmental Design 0 6 0 0 6
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other) 0 0 0 6 6
Other Business, Management & Marketing 0 4 2 0 6
Religious Studies 5 1 0 0 6
Intelligence & Command Control Operations 0 5 0 0 5
Health Sciences & Services 4 0 0 0 4
Criminal Justice & Corrections 0 0 4 0 4
Manufacturing Engineering 0 0 3 0 3
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages 2 0 1 0 3
Sacred Music 0 0 1 2 3
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 0 0 2 0 2
Sustainability Science 0 2 0 0 2
Archeology 2 0 0 0 2
Landscape Architecture 0 1 0 0 1
Molecular Medicine 0 0 1 0 1
General Business/Commerce 0 1 0 0 1
Computer Systems Networking 0 0 1 0 1
General Education 1 0 0 0 1
Astronomy & Astrophysics 1 0 0 0 1
Architectural History 0 0 0 0 0
Communication & Journalism (Other) 0 0 0 0 0
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 0 0 0 0
Liberal Arts General Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Health & Physical Education 0 0 0 0 0
General Physical Sciences 0 0 0 0 0
Air Transportation 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 5,447 1,497 9,751 1,842 18,537

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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