Have you been involved in your local community during high school? Do you enjoy giving back, volunteering your time, and changing your world for the better?
 
There's a reason USC is celebrated for its contribution to the local community: we ask our students to make service learning an integral part of their undergraduate experience. Through efforts like the Joint Educational Project, The Writer in the Community program, Youth and Family Programs, and our Teaching International Relations Program, civic engagement is a staple of the USC Dornsife experience for over 2,000 USC students each semester.
 
In 2005, USC was declared a preeminent "College With a Conscience" by the Princeton Review. We work every day to continue this legacy, and to offer students the tools they need to live their lives with purpose.

Joint Educational Project (JEP)

Founded in 1972, the Joint Educational Project is one of the oldest and largest service-learning programs in the United States.
 
By enabling students to learn firsthand about critical issues facing urban communities, JEP offers an authentic service-learning experience in schools, health-care facilities, agencies, and community partners. Students participate through their courses to receive academic credit through assignment exemptions or extra-credit opportunities.

Trojan Health Volunteers

Looking for hands-on experience that allows you to observe various aspects of medicine while giving back to your community? Look no further!
 
Trojan Health Volunteers (THV) gives pre-health students the opportunity to obtain volunteer experience in Los Angeles area hospitals and clinical settings. THV is committed to self-reflection, connecting clinical experience with weekly written assignments and bioethics group discussions. We want to advance your understanding of the world of medicine.

Writer in the Community

The Writer in the Community program works with the USC Dornsife English department to enable undergraduate students to lead writing workshops for students in local schools.
 
USC students enroll in a special creative writing course and, along with their professors, make weekly visits to local classrooms to supplement the English curriculum there. Students lead poetry workshops in the fall and fiction writing workshops in the spring.

Youth and Family Programs (YFA)

The Youth and Family Programs department works specifically with Sociology and Psychology classes dealing with the family. Professors in these areas integrate this outreach program into their syllabi, allowing their students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom out in a real world setting.
 
YFA currently partners with nine different sites which offer a variety of service opportunities for USC volunteers to participate in "after-school" programs for youth in foster care, at-risk youth (through the Salvation Army), and homeless youth (through School on Wheels).

Teaching International Relations Program (TIRP)

Through TIRP, USC undergraduate students enrolled in International Relations courses form small teaching teams. These teams visit social studies classes in local high schools and teach on topics like security, development, trade, and human rights.
 
Not only will you earn credit in your IR classes for participating, but you will also serve as a mentor to high school students participating in a free annual high school leadership conference. High school students participate in workshops and simulations centered around topics in International Relations.