USC Admissions: Entering Undergraduate Class Statistics

The University of Southern California’s entering undergraduate student body is among the most diverse, upwardly mobile and academically talented in the university’s 131-year history, with a record proportion of students who are the first in their families to go to college.

Average standardized test scores for the incoming class lie in the 96th percentile. More than 90 percent of incoming freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school class, and around 10 percent of them were valedictorians. Average GPA of the group was 3.72.

USC received 37,210 applications for 2,931 places in the fall 2011 freshman class. With this year’s applicant pool, USC’s admission rate was 23 percent.

The class represents a highly competitive and highly diverse group of students, with very broad geographic representation:

●  The class ranks among the most ethnically diverse ever enrolled at USC, with 22 percent under-represented minority students, including 7 percent African American, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Native American/Pacific Islander, and 25 percent Asian students. In addition, 14 percent of matriculating students are the first in their families to attend university, the most ever in a USC entering class.

●  Outside California, the leading U.S. states supplying new class members at USC are, in order: Texas, Washington, New York, Illinois, Florida, and Massachusetts. The most represented places of origin outside the U.S. are: China (including Hong Kong), South Korea, Canada, India, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia.

●  Overall, 48 percent of newly-enrolled students are from California, with 15 percent international students, representing 44 foreign countries.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with this year’s class of incoming Trojans. Not only are these students incredibly talented, both inside and outside the classroom, but they are a more diverse group by all measures; ethnically, geographically and socio-economically,” said USC Dean of Admission Timothy Brunold. “This fall, our search for next year’s class begins again. We plan to conduct more than 2,000 recruitment visits to high school campuses across the U.S. and in several countries.”

USC enrolls more under-represented minority students (African American, Hispanic and Native American) than most other private research universities in the country (3,216 as of fall 2010, or 19 percent of all undergraduates). Moreover, USC enrolls more than 3,000 low-income undergraduate students (as defined by Pell Grant eligibility), also more than more private research universities. Most importantly, low-income and under-represented minority students at USC graduate at rates comparable to the overall undergraduate population.

Based on the most recent federal data published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, USC also boasts the most diverse faculty among large private research universities in the American Association of Universities. One quarter of USC faculty members belong to a minority group (Black, Latino, Asian or Native American).

Financial Aid at USC

USC offers admission without regard to ability to pay, and the university meets 100 percent of the demonstrated need of on-time financial aid applicants. Almost 60 percent of USC’s undergraduate students receive some form of university aid. This represents more than 9,000 students — more than the total undergraduate population of most highly selective private research universities.

USC provides more than $210 million each year of university funds to undergraduates. This year the university raised its budget for financial aid for the third consecutive year in recognition of the effects on families of the global economic recession.

Information on USC Admissions is available at: www.usc.edu/admission.

Contact: Carl Marziali at (213) 740-4751 or marziali@usc.edu