At a Glance
USC admits 11.2% of applicants.
What You'll Actually Pay
See what families at different income levels actually pay after aid.
What families actually pay, by income level
After grants and scholarships. Before loans. Public school prices shown at in-state rates.
Source: College Scorecard / IPEDS, 2024-25
Where the Sticker Price Goes
Based on average need-based grant. Actual cost varies by family income — see chart above.
Debt at Graduation
37.7%
receive need-based grant aid
$26,805
average debt at graduation
USC graduates carry an average of $26,805 in debt.
Merit Aid
4,604
students received merit aid
$19,512
average merit award
Getting In
USC admits 11.2% of applicants.
SAT — Middle 50% of those who submitted · 33% of the class submitted
ACT — Middle 50% of those who submitted · 12% of the class submitted
69% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What They Value
Academic
Nonacademic
University of Southern California rates your personal essay as Very Important — equal weight to your GPA. Don't underestimate it. Demonstrated interest is Not Considered here — campus visits and emails to admissions won't affect your odds.
Student Life
60.4% of USC classes have fewer than 20 students.
Share of undergraduate class sections at each size, from CDS Section I-3. More red = more large lectures.
At USC, 60.4% of your classes will have fewer than 20 students.
Class size data reflects all undergraduate sections including labs, seminars, and lectures. Large research universities often have smaller upper-division and graduate-level sections that improve the overall distribution. First and second-year students typically experience larger classes than these averages suggest.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section I-3 (class sizes)
9:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus Life
Live on campus
36%
Men in fraternities
3%
Women in sororities
12%
Who Attends
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduates, as reported in each school's Common Data Set. "Unknown / Other" includes students who did not report or selected "other."
USC's student body is 23.9% white.
Popular Majors
Will They Graduate?
USC graduates 70.6% of students in 4 years.
Graduating late means paying for extra semesters. The 6-year rate tells you who eventually finishes — the 4-year rate tells you what it actually costs.
USC graduates 70.6% of students in 4 years.
What finishing late actually costs
Based on each school's published cost of attendance. Public school costs shown at in-state rates.
USC
70.6%
4-yr grad rate
Extra year cost: $90,300
Graduation rate data from Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2018 cohort (most recent available). 4-year rate = students completing in 4 years or less. 6-year rate = students completing within 6 years.
90.3%
Overall 6-yr rate
86.7%
Pell recipient rate
There's a 3.6 point gap between overall and Pell Grant graduation rates. Worth asking the school about support resources.
Freshman Retention
95.18%
95.18% of first-year students return for sophomore year.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Los Angeles.
The campus is a closed, green, walkable rectangle three miles south of downtown Los Angeles, wrapped by a real city rather than a college town. Exposition Park and its museums are across the street; Hollywood, Santa Monica and the studios are a drive or a train ride away.
Notable Alumni
Neil Armstrong
First person to walk on the Moon. He earned his master's degree in aerospace engineering here in 1970, finishing the thesis he had begun before Apollo 11.
Class of 1970
George Lucas
Created Star Wars and Indiana Jones and founded Industrial Light & Magic. He graduated from the film school here in 1967, and the school is now named for him.
Class of 1967
Marc Benioff
Founded Salesforce and pioneered software delivered over the web. He took his business degree here in 1986 while writing and selling games on the side.
Class of 1986
Will Ferrell
Comedian and actor, from Saturday Night Live to Anchorman. He graduated here in 1990 with a degree in sports broadcasting.
Class of 1990
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
The City
Major city
Los Angeles, CA
Best For
Traditions
Tommy Trojan
The bronze Trojan at the centre of campus, guarded by students in the week before the UCLA game and the fixed meeting point for everything else.
Traveler
A white horse that gallops the length of the field after every USC touchdown, a ritual unbroken since 1961.
The Trojan Family
The name USC gives its alumni network, and the thing graduates cite most when asked what the degree bought them — particularly in film, games and real estate.
Conquest and the UCLA rivalry
A cross-town rivalry played since 1929. The week before the game reshapes the whole campus, statues included.
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Los Angeles
Santa Monica and the beaches
About 30 minutesThe standard escape west, reachable by the E Line train from campus without a car.
Griffith Park and the Observatory
About 25 minutesHiking above the city with the Hollywood sign on one side and the basin on the other.
Big Bear and the San Bernardino mountains
About two hoursSnow in winter and hiking in summer, close enough for a day trip.
Joshua Tree National Park
About two and a half hoursHigh desert, boulder fields and dark skies — the trip students make once and remember.
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Los Angeles International (LAX)
About 25 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Los Angeles Dodgers MLB
- Los Angeles Lakers NBA
- Los Angeles Rams NFL
- LAFC MLS
Career Proximity
Inside the second-largest metropolitan economy in the United States, with entertainment, games and aerospace all within a short drive.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Walt Disney Company
- Riot Games
- SpaceX
- Keck Medicine of USC
- Deloitte
Downtown Los Angeles, three miles north, with Century City and the studios within the metro
Who Thrives Here
USC admits 11.2%, and the middle half of enrolled first-years scored between 1470 and 1540 on the SAT, so this is a reach for nearly everyone who applies. What a family gets in return is a small-college teaching profile at a large private university: a 9:1 student-faculty ratio and 60.4% of class sections under 20. It also has one of the more serious aid commitments in the catalog — 99.4% of demonstrated need is met, and graduates who borrow leave owing about $26,805, which is real money but modest against the sticker price. Outcomes match the selectivity: 95.2% of first-years return and 90.3% graduate within six years, though only 70.6% finish in four, so the extra year is common here too. The culture is the reason to choose it or rule it out. Greek life takes in 3.0% of men and 12.0% of women and 36.0% live in university housing, so this is not a residential bubble — the city is the campus, and the alumni network in film, games and business is the thing students trade on for the next forty years. A student who wants quiet and a contained campus will find Los Angeles pressing in from every direction.