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USC is one of the most selective universities in the United States,[5] admitting 25% (or 8,634) of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission in 2006. According to the freshman profile, 18% of admissions were associated with legacy preferences. USC was also named "College of the Year 2000" by the editors of TIME magazine and the Princeton Review for the university's extensive community-service programs. In its 2007 ranking of "America's Best Colleges," U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States. Residing in the heart of a global city, USC has established one of the most diverse institutions in the world,[6] with students from all 50 states as well as over 115 countries. USC is also home to Nobel Prize winning Chemistry Professor George Olah, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. The university also has two National Science Foundation–funded Engineering Research Centers—the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems. In addition, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security selected USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence. Since 1991, USC has been the headquarters of the NSF and USGS funded Southern California Earthquake Center. USC is the largest private employer in Los Angeles and is responsible for $4 billion in economic output in Los Angeles County; USC students spend $406 million yearly in the local economy and visitors to the campus add another $12.3 million.[7] USC and its partner institutions have recently completed or soon will be constructing 27 new buildings, which will provide nearly 8.1 million square feet (750,000 m²) of new space for research, teaching, patient care, and student life enrichment.
OverviewImage:11-11-06-USC-WidneyAlumniHouse.jpg Built in 1880, the Widney Alumni House is USC's original building; it has been physically relocated twice. USC was founded in 1880 as a Methodist university, on land donated by three wealthy Los Angeles residents. Los Angeles was a frontier town in the early 1870s, when a group of citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney first conceived of establishing a university in the region. It took nearly a decade for this idea to become a reality, but in 1879 Widney formed a board of trustees and secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community — Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Roman Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution. When USC first opened its doors with an enrollment of 53 students and a faculty of 10 in 1880, the city still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones, and a reliable fire alarm system. Its first graduating class in 1884 was a class of three - two males and a female valedictorian. Though USC started out as a religious institution, the university is no longer affiliated with the Methodist Church having severed formal ties many decades ago. USC has grown substantially in the 127 years since its founding. Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus"), which lies about 2 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the university also operates the Health Sciences Campus about 2 miles northeast of downtown. In addition, the Children's Hospital Los Angeles is staffed by USC faculty from the Keck School of Medicine and is often referred to as USC's third campus. USC also operates an Orange County center in Irvine for business, pharmacy, social work and education; and the Information Sciences Institute, with centers in Arlington, Virginia and Marina del Rey. For its science students, USC operates the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies located on Catalina Island just 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles and home to the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center. The School of Policy, Planning, and Development also runs a satellite campus in Sacramento. In 2005, USC established a federal relations office in Washington, D.C.. There is also a Health Sciences Alhambra campus which holds The Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) and the Masters in Public Health Program. USC went international in 2004, when it collaborated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to offer the USC (Executive) EMBA program in Shanghai. USC also operates two international study centers in Paris and Madrid. Beginning in 2006, the Marshall School of Business will have a San Diego satellite campus. USC's nickname is the Trojans, epitomized by the statue of Tommy Trojan near the center of campus. Until 1912, USC students (especially athletes) were known as Fighting Methodists or Wesleyans, though neither name was approved by the university. During a fateful track and field meet with Stanford University, the USC team was beaten early and seemingly conclusively. After only the first few events, it was statistically impossible for USC to win; however, the team fought back, winning many of the later events, to lose only by a slight margin. After this contest, Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen Bird reported that the USC athletes "fought on like Trojans," and the president of the university at the time, George F. Bovard, approved the name officially. University Park CampusImage:USC-Bovard-1921.jpg Bovard Hall shortly after completion in 1921; the streets would later become pedestrian-only The University Park campus is in the West Adams district of South Los Angeles, 2 miles southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. The campus' boundaries are Jefferson Boulevard on the north and northeast, Figueroa Street on the southeast, Exposition Boulevard on the south, and Vermont Avenue on the west. Since the 1960s, through campus vehicle traffic has been banned. The University Park campus is within walking distance to Los Angeles landmarks such as the Shrine Auditorium, Staples Center, and Los Angeles Coliseum. Most buildings are in the Romanesque style, although some dormitories, engineering buildings, and physical sciences labs are of various Modernist styles (especially two large Brutalist dormitories at the campus' northern edge) that sharply contrast with the predominantly red-brick campus. Widney Alumni House, built in 1880, is the oldest university building in Southern California. In recent years the campus has been renovated to remove the vestiges of old roads and replace them with traditional university quads and gardens. USC was developed under two master plans which were drafted and implemented some 40 years apart. The first was prepared by The Parkinsons in the early 1920s, which guided much of the campus' early construction and established its Romanesque style and 45-degree building orientation. The second and largest master plan was prepared in 1960 under the supervision of President Norman Topping, campus development director Anthony Lazzaro, and architect William Pereira. This plan annexed a great deal of the surrounding city and many of the older non-university structures within the new boundaries were leveled. Most of the Pereira buildings were constructed in the 1970s. Pereira maintained a predominantly red-brick architecture for the new buildings, but infused them with his trademark techno-modernism stylings. USC's role in making visible and sustained improvements in the neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses earned it the distinction of College of the Year 2000 by the TIME/Princeton Review College Guide. Roughly half of the university's students volunteer in community-service programs in neighborhoods around campus and throughout Los Angeles. These outreach programs, as well as previous administrations' commitment to remaining in South Los Angeles amid widespread calls to move the campus following the 1965 Watts Riots, are credited for the safety of the university during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. (That the university emerged from the riots completely unscathed is all the more remarkable in light of the complete destruction of several strip malls in the area, including one just across Vermont Avenue from the campus' western entrance). The ZIP code for USC is 90089 and the surrounding University Park community is 90007. As well, USC has an endowment of $3.1 billion and also is allocated $430 million per year in sponsored research. USC became the only university to receive five separate nine-figure gifts[citation needed] — $120 million from Ambassador Walter Annenberg to create the Annenberg Center for Communication and a later Annenberg gift of $100 million for the USC Annenberg School for Communication; $112.5 million from Alfred Mann to establish the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering; $110 million from the W. M. Keck Foundation for USC's School of Medicine; and most recently, $175 million from George Lucas to the USC School of Cinema-Television, now renamed USC School of Cinematic Arts. Major new facilities opened with the infusion of new money including the:
Health Sciences CampusLocated three miles from downtown Los Angeles and seven miles from the University Park campus, USC's Health Sciences campus is a major center for basic and clinical biomedical research in the fields of cancer, gene therapy, the neurosciences, and transplantation biology, among others. The 50-acre campus is home to the region's first and oldest medical and pharmacy schools, as well as acclaimed programs in occupational therapy and physical therapy (both of which are ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report) . In addition to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, which is one of the nation's largest teaching hospitals, the campus includes three patient care facilities: USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, USC University Hospital, and the Doheny Eye Institute. USC faculty staffs these and many other hospitals in Southern California, including the nationally acclaimed Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Because of its outstanding ranking and achievements in research and health care, the Health Sciences campus is a focal point for students, patients, and scientists from around the world. AdministrationImage:USC Bovard Auditorium enh.jpg George Finley Bovard Administration Building The university administration consists of a President, a Provost, several Vice Presidents of various departments, a treasurer, a Chief Information Officer, and an athletic director. The President is Steven B. Sample and the Provost is C.L. Max Nikias. The College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, The Graduate School, and the 18 Professional Schools are each lead by an Academic Dean. USC occasionally awards emeritus titles to former administrators. There are currently six Administrators Emeriti. List of past University presidents
AcademicsThe University of Southern California has a successful undergraduate program and is also known for its professional schools in communication, law, dentistry, medicine, business, engineering, journalism, public policy, and architecture, as well as for its School of Cinematic Arts. Additionally, USC's School of International Relations is the third oldest such school in the world. It also offers the Master of Professional Writing Program. Image:USC-Bing Theatre.jpg Bing Theater The incoming freshman class for the 2006 fall term had an average unadjusted GPA of 3.8 out of 4.0 and an average SAT score of 2054 out of 2400. USC has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1969 and is the oldest private research university in the American West. [3] The School of Cinematic Arts, the first in the country and perhaps USC's most famous school, confers degrees in critical studies, screenwriting, film production, and film producing. In 2001, the film school added an Interactive Media Division studying video games, virtual reality, and mobile media. The school is supported by its famous alumni, whose ranks include such well-known graduates as George Lucas, Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, John Milius, Ben Burtt, and Bryan Singer. On September 19, 2006, USC announced that George Lucas had donated $175 million USD to expand the film school, it was the largest single donation to USC (and its fifth over $100 million).[9] Image:USC School of Cinema and Television.JPG Norris Theater (USC School of Cinematic Arts) Image:USC-Viterbi School of Engineering.jpg Biegler Hall of Engineering, west wall (Viterbi School of Engineering) The Annenberg School for Communication, founded in 1971, is among the best in the nation[11] and is one of the two communication programs in the country endowed by Walter Annenberg (the other is at the University of Pennsylvania). The School of Journalism, which became part of the School for Communication in 1994[12], features a core curriculum that requires students to devote themselves equally to print, broadcast and online media for the first year of study. This approach promises a breadth of knowledge across various journalistic media. USC's Annenberg School for Communication enjoys a large endowment (valued at over $180 million in late 2006, having risen during Dean Geoffrey Cowan's leadership from $5 million in 1996)[13]. USC Gamepipe Labs provides students with the chance to earn a degree in computer game engineering and design. [4] Academic subdivisionsUSC's academic departments fall either under the general liberal arts and sciences of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences for undergraduates, or The Graduate School for graduates, or the university's 17 professional schools. A full listing of academic subdivisions follows alphabetically by subject:
RankingsThe Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked USC as the 36th best university in the nation and 47th best university in the world.[14][15] Furthermore, in ranking overall departments, the Institute ranked USC's combined departments of engineering and computer sciences as 12th in the world[16]; combined departments in the social sciences as 35th in the world[17]; and combined departments of clinical medicine and pharmacy as 47th in the world[18]. Likewise, The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked USC as the 36th best university in the country and 124th best in the world.[19] Currently, USC ranks among the top 10 private universities receiving federal funds for research and development support and 17th among all research universities in the United States.[20] TheCenter at the University of Florida ranks USC at 12th as a Top American Research Universities.[21] Rolling Stone Magazine ranks the USC Thornton School of Music as one of the Top Five music schools in the United States. Undergraduate rankingsUSC was ranked 27th [22] overall in the country by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Undergraduate Colleges in 2007. The following are the rankings for some of the specific schools at USC:
Graduate rankingsThese rankings are found in the 2007 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools Selected schools:
Selected programs:
Other news services rank graduate schools, such as the Wall Street Journal, which rankings are as follows:
Awards and honorsCurrent USC faculty have received the following honors: (November 2006)
DemographicsThe following figures are accurate as of the 2006-2007 academic year. USC has a total enrollment of 33,389 students, of which 16,729 are at the undergraduate and 16,660 at the postgraduate levels.[3] 350 postdoctoral fellows are supported along with 900 medical residents. There are currently 4,390 faculty and about 14,000 support staff. There are roughly 200,000 living Trojan Alumni. The university has attracted more international students over the years than any other American university. Currently, about 10 percent of USC's students represent over 115 countries and the university maintains international offices in several countries.[30] The student body encompasses 6,846 international students, more than any other university in the United States [7]. International diversity is not limited to the student population alone, as more than 1,200 scholars and professors from foreign countries have visited the campus[8]. The male-female ratio at USC is nearly 1:1, and 49% of new students come from out of state. The ethnic breakdown of undergraduates is:
For graduate and professional students:
AdmissionsFor the 2006-2007 academic year, 33,979 students applied to the university.[32] 8,634 of these students were admitted, and 2,763 students composed the final matriculation. Among the entering class of 2006, the unweighted average GPA was 3.7 on the 4.0 scale. The mean SAT composite score was 2054, and the middle 50% ACT composite fell between 28 and 32. There are 18 percent of admitted and attending students are SCions, or students with familial ties to USC, while 10 percent are the first generation in their family to attend any form of college. There were also 209 National Merit Scholar winners, 41 National Hispanic Scholars, and 3 National Achievement Scholars in the most recent admitted class. USC ranks among the top five schools in the nation in terms of its enrollment of National Merit Scholars. Trojan alumniThere are currently 200,000 living Trojan Alumni, with nearly 75% of all alumni living in California. To stay connected as an alumnus, the Trojan network consists of over 100 Alumni groups on 5 continents. It is often said that once a person joins the "Trojan Family" they are a member for life, forever connecting with the vast network of fellow Trojan Alumni. University library systemThe USC Libraries are among the oldest private academic research libraries in California. For more than a century USC has been building collections in support of the university's teaching and research interests. Especially noteworthy collections include American literature, Cinema-Television including the Warner Bros. studio archives, European philosophy, gerontology, German exile literature, international relations, Korean studies, studies of Latin America, natural history, Southern California history, and the University Archives. The USC Warner Bros. Archives is the largest single studio collection in the world. Donated in 1977 to the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, by Warner Communications, the WBA houses departmental records that detail Warner Bros. activities from the studio’s first major feature, My Four Years in Germany (1918), to its sale to Seven Arts in 1968. Announced in June 2006, the testimonies of 52,000 survivors, rescuers and others involved in the Holocaust will now be housed in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences as a part of the newly formed USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. [33] In addition to the Shoah Foundation, the USC Libraries digital collection highlights include the California Historical Society, Korean American Archives and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. The digital archive holds 193,252 records and 223,487 content files of varying formats. USC’s 22 libraries and other archives currently hold nearly 4 million printed volumes, 6 million items in microform, and 3 million photographs and subscribe to more than 30,000 current serial titles, nearly 44,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, and subscribe to over 120 electronic databases and more than 14,000 journals in print and electronic formats. Annually, reference transactions number close to 50,000 and approximately 1,100 instructional presentations are made to 16,000 participants. [9] The University of Southern California Library system is among the top 35 largest university library systems in the United States.[10] The USC Libraries
Research
Major USC research centers are listed on the USC website and USC faculty website. AthleticsImage:11-11-06-LA-Coliseum-USC-UO.jpg The Coliseum during a USC game Image:Bcsuscnationalchamps.jpg 2004 BCS Championship Trophy in Heritage Hall Trojan teams have won 103 total team national championships, 86 of which have been NCAA National Championships, including 73 men’s NCAA titles and 23 women’s titles. USC has the second highest total of championships in college sports.[11] USC athletics participates in the NCAA Division I-A Pacific Ten Conference. USC's cross-town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic competition. However, USC's rivalry with Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry of all college athletics.[34] TraditionsAs one of the oldest universities in California, the University of Southern California has a long and storied history resulting in a number of modern traditions, some of which are outlined here:
Image:11-11-06-GeorgeTirebiter-Statue.jpg Statue of USC's former mascot, George Tirebiter
Mascots
Marching bandUSC is also known for its marching band, known as The Spirit of Troy, which also calls itself The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe. The band has been featured in at least 10 major movies and performed in the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. They have also performed on television shows and with other musicians. The band was notable in the late 1970s for its appearance on the title track of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk, for which the band was awarded two platinum records. No other marching band has earned a platinum record. Recently, the band produced an instrumental version of the popular song "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "Hit That," both by The Offspring (whose lead singer is a USC alumnus), and appeared with OutKast at the 2004 Grammy Awards in their hit song "Hey Ya!". Following the University's footsteps, the Spirit of Troy has also gone international. One of only two American groups invited to perform, the USC band marched the Hong Kong Chinese New Year parade in both 2003 and 2004. The Trojan Marching Band performed at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan. In May of 2006, the Trojan Marching Band traveled to Italy, performing once in Florence, and twice in Rome (including in front of the Coliseum). Alma mater"All Hail" was written by Al Wessen for the finale of a student show, "Campus Frolics of 1923." "All Hail to Alma Mater Song Girls and Yell LeadersThe USC Song Girls are one of the most recognizable college dance teams in the world. Founded in 1969, The Song Girls appear at all football games as well as basketball and volleyball games. In addition, the squad appears at rallies, university and alumni functions, and conducts its own Junior Song Girl camp. The Song Girls, together with the Spirit of Troy, are the most visible public face of the University, and function as the ambassadors of spirit and good will for the Trojan Family. The USC Yell Leaders had been active for eight decades. Working closely with the Spirit of Troy and the USC Song Leaders, they served as a spirit group at football, basketball, and volleyball games. As of the 2006 football season, the Yell Leaders have disbanded, and will no longer be present at the games.[36] Greek lifeAbout 20 percent of students are in the Greek system, so the Greek Row figures prominently on the campus. Greek Row is situated on West 28th Street, located between Figueroa Street and Hoover Street just north of campus. With 20 fraternities and 10 sororities in IFC and PHC respectively, the USC Greek system has over 2,700 members; The USC Greek system is one of the largest on the West Coast. The Greek community reguarly participates in Homecoming and Songfest. Outside of the Panhellenic and Interfraternal councils, the Greek system at USC is very diverse, boasting the Multicultural, Asian and National Panhellenic (historically black) Greek Councils. Organizations governed by these councils include chapters of some of the oldest Latino and Black Greek organizations in the country, as well as Asian and multiculturally based organizations that range from 5 to 30 years old. USC's IFC website Student government and politicsStudent governmentImage:USCSpringfest2005.JPG USC's Program Board sponsors Springfest, held annually in McCarthy Quad Modeled after the United States government, the Undergraduate Student Government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, along with a programming branch (commonly referred to as "Program Board"). The executive branch consists of students appointed by the elected leadership and is charged with coordinating publications, events, and efforts to solve problems voiced by the student body. The legislative branch, the only branch fully elected by the students, represents the voice of the student body to university officials and legislates change to some limited aspects of university policy. The judicial branch ensures that all operations within Undergraduate Student Government are within the bounds of the organization's governing documentation. Program Board aims to provide USC students with education and information through a multitude of social, political, and entertaining events. Assemblies and committees, in conjunction with elected and appointed Senate representatives, attempt to program these events in line with the desires of the paying student body. All Undergraduate Student Government activities are funded by the student activity fee, which the President and Treasurer have control over setting and which the Senate approves. Student politicsFor much of the late 20th century, USC has had a reputation for being a politically conservative campus.[37] In the politically charged times of the 1960s-70s, and in stark contrast to the University of California campuses, USC was one of the few campuses in California where then-Governor Ronald Reagan could visit without additional protection.[38] This image may have been reinforced by the fact that in the early seventies, several conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
