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USC, University of Southern California - SAT Scores, Costs and Admissions Data

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USC, University of Southern California

USC, University of Southern California

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USC Description:

USC, the University of Southern California, is a highly competitive private university located in the University Park neighborhood southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The university offers over 130 majors for undergraduates with Business Administration drawing the greatest number of students. USC tends to place high in national rankings. It has strong research programs and is a member of the Association of American Universities, and strengths in the liberal arts and sciences earned the university a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Academics are supported by a 9 to 1 student / faculty ratio. In athletics, the USC Trojans have won more NCAA Division I championships than all but a couple other universities. The Trojans compete in the Pac 12 Conference.

Admissions Data (2011):

Enrollment (2010):

  • Total Enrollment: 36,896 (17,380 undergraduates)
  • Gender Breakdown: 49% Male / 51% Female
  • 96% Full-time

Costs (2011 - 12):

  • Tuition and Fees: $42,818
  • Books: $1,500 (why so much?)
  • Room and Board: $12,078
  • Other Expenses: $1,480
  • Total Cost: $57,876

USC Financial Aid (2009 - 10):

  • Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 73%
  • USC Scholarships (Cappex.com)
  • Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of Aid
    • Grants: 58%
    • Loans: 61%
  • Average Amount of Aid
    • Grants: $25,345
    • Loans: $6,689

Most Popular Majors:

Accounting, Architecture, Biology, Business Administration, Communication Studies, Economics, International Relations, Political Science, Psychology

Transfer, Graduation and Retention Rates:

  • First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 96%
  • Transfer Out Rate: 7%
  • 4-Year Graduation Rate: 72%
  • 6-Year Graduation Rate: 88%

Data Source:

National Center for Educational Statistics

USA Mission Statement:

"The central mission of the University of Southern California is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. The principal means by which our mission is accomplished are teaching, research, artistic creation, professional practice and selected forms of public service.

Our first priority as faculty and staff is the education of our students, from freshmen to postdoctorals, through a broad array of academic, professional, extracurricular and athletic programs of the first rank. The integration of liberal and professional learning is one of USC's special strengths. We strive constantly for excellence in teaching knowledge and skills to our students, while at the same time helping them to acquire wisdom and insight, love of truth and beauty, moral discernment, understanding of self, and respect and appreciation for others.

Research of the highest quality by our faculty and students is fundamental to our mission. USC is one of a very small number of premier academic institutions in which research and teaching are inextricably intertwined, and on which the nation depends for a steady stream of new knowledge, art, and technology. Our faculty are not simply teachers of the works of others, but active contributors to what is taught, thought and practiced throughout the world."

Complete mission statement available on the USC website here: http://www.usc.edu/about/core_documents/

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