University of Southern California

University of Southern California

Motto	Latin: Palmam qui meruit ferat
Motto in English	Let whoever earns the palm bear it
Type	Private research university
Established	October 6, 1880; 140 years ago (1880-10-06)
Academic affiliations	AAU NAICU[1] APRU Sea-grant Space-grant
Endowment	$5.91 billion (2020)[2]
Budget	$5.3 billion (2018)[3]
President	Carol Folt[4]
Academic staff	4,604 (2019)[3]
Administrative staff	16,313 (2019)[3]
Students	48,321 (2019)[5]
Undergraduates	20,351 (2019)[5]
Postgraduates	27,970 (2019)[5]
Location	Los Angeles , California , United States
Campus	Urban University Park campus 299 acres (1.21 km2) Health Sciences campus 79 acres (0.32 km2)[6]
Colors	Cardinal and Gold[7][8]
Nickname	Trojans
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I FBS – Pac-12 ACHA (ice hockey), MPSF
Mascot	Traveler[9]
Website	usc.edu

The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal^[a]) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Robert M. Widney in 1880, it is the oldest institution of higher education in California.^[10]

USC is ranked among the top universities in the United States and admission is highly selective.^{[11][12][13][14]} The university is composed of one liberal arts school, the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and twenty-two undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, enrolling an average of 19,500 undergraduate and 26,500 post-graduate students students from all fifty U.S. states and more than 115 countries.^{[15][16][17][18]}

USC was one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System.^[19] Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, and antivirus software.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

USC's notable alumni include 11 Rhodes scholars and 12 Marshall scholars.^[25][26] As of January 2021, 10 Nobel laureates, 6 MacArthur Fellows, and one Turing Award winner have been affiliated with the university. USC has conferred degrees upon 29 alumni who became billionaires,^[27] and has graduated more alumni who have gone on to win more Academy and Emmy Awards than any other institution in the world by a significant margin, in part due to the success of the School of Cinematic Arts.^[28][29]

USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of USC's sports teams, the Trojans, have won 107 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the United States, and 412 NCAA individual championships, ranking them third in the United States and second among NCAA Division I schools.^[30] Trojan athletes have won 309 medals at the Olympic Games (144 golds, 93 silvers and 72 bronzes), more than any other university in the United States.^[31] In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities.^[32] USC has had a total of 537 football players drafted to the National Football League, the second-highest number of drafted players in the country.^[33]

The University of Southern California is the largest private employer in the Los Angeles area and generates an estimated $8 billion of economic impact on California.^[34]