University of Southern California Data & Information Overview
Get the facts about University of Southern California. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more. Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is University of Southern California Ranked?
2023 Rankings
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
University of Southern California was awarded 2,368 badges in the 2023 rankings.
Overall Quality
College Factual ranked USC as #18 out of 2,241 colleges and universities in the country on its 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! This is an improvement over the previous year, when USC held the #33 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.
USC also holds the #4 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for University of Southern California.
Is It Hard to Get Into USC?
Acceptance Rate
University of Southern California has a very low acceptance rate of 16%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It's probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to USC just in case you don't make the cut.
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.
Learn more about University of Southern California admissions.
University of Southern California Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio is often used to measure the number of teaching resources that a college or university offers its students. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1, but at USC it is much better at 9 to 1. That's good news for students who want to interact more on a personal level with their teachers.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at University of Southern California is 62%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at University of Southern California
Freshmen Retention Rate
University of Southern California has a freshmen retention rate of 91%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Graduation Rate
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at USC for first-time, full-time students is 77%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of Southern California.
University of Southern California Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 19,786 undergraduates at USC with 18,560 being full-time and 1,226 being part-time.
How Much Does University of Southern California Cost?
The overall average net price of USC is $32,569. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for USC
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $17,287 | $17,345 | $22,826 | $32,363 | $52,917 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of USC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. 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 1.3%. 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.
Get more details about paying for University of Southern California.
How Much Money Do USC Graduates Make?
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from USC with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $83,426 in their early years. That's great news for USC students since it is 96% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.
See which majors at University of Southern California make the most money.
Location of University of Southern California
University of Southern California is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.Get more details about the location of University of Southern California.
Contact details for USC are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089 |
| Phone: | 213-740-2311 |
| Website: | www.usc.edu/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/usc |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/usc |
University of Southern California Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 139 majors graduated from University of Southern California. Of these students, 5,745 received undergraduate degrees and 11,012 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.| Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Business Administration & Management | 1,035 | $62,573 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 336 | $46,379 |
| Computer Science | 293 | $104,298 |
| Human Biology | 236 | $30,297 |
| Economics | 221 | $54,837 |
| General Psychology | 177 | $34,924 |
| Accounting | 175 | $64,797 |
| International Relations & National Security | 171 | $48,625 |
| Applied Mathematics | 167 | $61,861 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 158 | $35,793 |
Online Learning at USC
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
In 2019-2020, 41,112 students took at least one online class at University of Southern California. This is an increase from the 8,203 students who took online classes the previous year.
| Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 41,112 | 37,923 |
| 2018-2019 | 8,203 | 6,651 |
| 2017-2018 | 8,581 | 6,707 |
| 2016-2017 | 7,608 | 5,953 |
| 2015-2016 | 7,022 | 5,435 |
Learn more about online learning at University of Southern California.
Find Out More About University of Southern California
Related Schools
If you’re considering University of Southern California, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
- Case Western Reserve University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Northwestern University
- University of Notre Dame
- Washington University in St Louis
Curious on how these schools stack up against USC? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*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.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Original uploader was Padsquad19 at en.wikipedia under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
College Factual provides higher-education, college and university, degree, program, career, salary, and other helpful information to students, faculty, institutions, and other internet audiences. Presented information and data are subject to change. Inclusion on this website does not imply or represent a direct relationship with the company, school, or brand. Information, though believed correct at time of publication, may not be correct, and no warranty is provided. Contact the schools to verify any information before relying on it. Financial aid may be available for those who qualify. The displayed options may include sponsored or recommended results, not necessarily based on your preferences.
© College Factual – All Rights Reserved.
