What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$13,516 to $56,116 a year, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $90,300 a year. Average need-based aid package: $87,719.Aid and debt
37.7%
receive need-based grants
$26,805
average debt at graduation
4,604
students got merit aid
about 22% of undergraduates
$19,512
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1470–1540 · 33% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 32–35 · 12% of the class submitted
69% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Character
- Important
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Class rank
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
USC rates course rigor, your essay, and your recommendations as Very Important, and your activities as Important.
MoreLess
Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. The essay is weighted like your GPA. Choose recommenders who can be specific about you, not just confirm your transcript. And depth and leadership in a few activities matter more than a long list.
USC doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
USC just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-USC essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
60.4% of USC classes have fewer than 20 students.
60.4%
under 20 students
27.4%
20 to 49
12.2%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. USC CDS 2025–26, I-3.
9:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
36%
live on campus
3%
of men in fraternities
12%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White23.9%
- Asian23.1%
- Hispanic19.4%
- Black6.6%
- Multiracial6.5%
- Unknown / other5%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. USC CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
70.6% of USC students graduate in 4 years.
70.6%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
90.3%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
95.18%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
86.7% finish in 6 years, against 90.3% of all students.
A 3.6-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
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.
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Exposition Park and its museums are across the street; Hollywood, Santa Monica and the studios are a drive or a train ride away.
The City
Major city
Los Angeles, CA
Best For
Notable alumni
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.
Traditions
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 from Los Angeles
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 and game days
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
Internships and jobs nearby
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
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 — 97.1% 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.