University of
Southern California
Private Research University in Los Angeles, CA. Six-year graduation rate 92%. Median 10-year earnings $92,498.
Students who entered University of Southern California reach a median of $92,498 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 92% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $18,000 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.9% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 92% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 10% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
University of Southern California admits just 10% of applicants, placing it among the most selective undergraduate institutions in the country. With 82,027 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. 43% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. The score bands below rest on the 34% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 710–760 | 1,191 (34%) |
| SAT Math | 740–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–35 | 432 (12%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Southern California →Academics
92% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 96% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate body runs to 21,023, large enough that student experience varies widely by program.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 20,817 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $43,412 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $13,516 at the $0–30k band to $56,116 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $48,851. 24% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 3,630 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $13,516 |
| $30–48k | $14,394 |
| $48–75k | $19,539 |
| $75–110k | $24,976 |
| $110k+ | $56,116 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,956 of these 20,817 students, totalling $30,711,359 — an average of $6,197 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)