Website: http://www.usc.edu

When the University of Southern California opened its doors to 53 students in 1880, Los Angeles still lacked paved streets and electric lights. Today, L.A. is a global center for arts, technology and international business, and USC is one of the world’s leading private research universities with more than 4,000 innovative scholars, researchers, teachers and mentors that includes five Nobel laureates, and dozens of recipients of prestigious national honors. In a comprehensive 2022 ranking, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked USC 19th among more than 1,000 public and private universities in the US.

Throughout its College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and over 20 different professional schools, USC encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge. USC prepares students for international citizenship through signature programs that span countries and continents and worldwide collaborations with both public and private sectors. USC’s unique integration of liberal and professional education affords students unparalleled opportunities to develop breadth with depth by studying two or more disparate fields. Other USC hallmarks include a distinguished tradition of public service, and a commitment to research with wide-ranging social impacts in fields ranging from the life sciences to communication and multimedia technologies.

USC has two main campuses: the University Park campus, located three miles south of downtown Los Angeles, has a park-like atmosphere, a rich architectural history and has been expanded to include the USC Village, a 15-acre student living and learning complex; three miles northeast of downtown, the Health Sciences campus, with its state-of-the-art clinical, classroom and laboratory resources, is a focal point for students, patients and scientists from around the world.