About USC

Question 1

USC Rankings

Answer 1

• In a comprehensive 2020 ranking, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked USC 18th among more than 1,000 public and private universities.
• Among all California institutions — public and private — only USC, Caltech and Stanford University ranked within the top 20.
• Of the 150 universities surveyed in the western U.S., USC ranks No. 3.
• Among the top 25 schools, USC ranked No. 2 in engagement and No. 5 in environment, a measure of diversity and inclusion.

Question 2

2018-2019 Applicants

Answer 2

• This year, USC received a record number of applications for its fall freshman class — more than 64,000 applied — making 2018-2019 the institution’s most selective year on record, with a record-breaking acceptance rate of 13 percent.

Question 3

Distinguished Faculty

Answer 3

• 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.

Question 4

History of its Beginnings

Answer 4

• 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.
• The three men who made the original gift of land to establish USC are as diverse as 19th-century Los Angeles (left to right): Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist.
• 1884: USC holds its first commencement, with a graduating class of three students; a woman, Minnie Miltimore, is named class valedictorian.

Question 5

The Campus and Locations

Answer 5

• Located in the heart of Los Angeles, USC’s University Park campus is part of the city’s Downtown Arts and Education Corridor and is home to the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
• The Health Sciences campus, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, is home to the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the School of Pharmacy, three major teaching hospitals, and programs in Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and in Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy.
• USC also has programs and centers in Marina Del Rey, Orange County, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Catalina Island, Alhambra and around Southern California.
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, staffed by USC faculty from the Keck School of Medicine, is often referred to as USC’s third campus.