Undergraduate Education
What Problems Do You Want to Solve?
As a USC Dornsife undergraduate, you’ll grapple with complex questions that demand new ways of thinking. You’ll connect perspectives and problem-solving methods from wildly different fields. And you’ll be encouraged to step outside of your comfort zone — knowing with certainty that you have the Trojan Family to support you in every way possible.
Most of all, you’ll gain the knowledge and experience to adapt, lead, and succeed in a rapidly changing world.
If your single goal is to learn, you will probably thrive at any college. If you want to learn and discover and create and actively work on the issues that matter to you most (and have a lot of fun!) … you belong at USC Dornsife!
Undergraduate Quick Facts
7,747
Undergraduate Students
(38% of total USC undergraduate population)
188
Majors and Minors
11%
Undergraduate First-year Acceptance Rate (Fall 2024)
54%
Students Receiving Financial Aid
25%
First-Generation College Students (Fall 2024 Incoming Class)
27%
Transfer Students
92
Countries of Origin Represented
59
States and U.S. Territories Represented
38%
Total Undergraduate Population at USC
The USC Dornsife Difference
So Much More Than “College”
Research universities like USC make up only 3% of America’s institutions of higher education. These are the places that have driven innovation in America for over a century. So what’s the added value of studying at a leading research university?
- You’ll be invited to work in state-of-the-art laboratories and have access to some of the best libraries and facilities in the world.
- Your professors are the ones writing the textbooks, novels, and papers that you will be assigned to read. And because your professors are the world’s leading experts, much of what you will be learning isn’t even in the textbooks yet!
- When you work with faculty as part of your experiential learning curriculum, you can personally have a hand in making discoveries that change the world.
- Leaders in government and industry partner with USC for expertise that can’t be found anywhere else. Combined with the expansive Trojan Family, you’ll graduate with a strong professional network.
Welcome to the Trojan Family!
Our alumni are in every industry, all over the world — and for every one of them, it all started at USC Dornsife. When you arrive, you’ll not only gain insights and meaningful experience that will stay with you the rest of your life, you’ll also be joining an expansive community of passionate leaders making a positive impact on the world.
The World Is Your Campus
One day you’re tucked away in a library carrel, the next you’re hiking through the mountains with a faculty member. If it deepens your education, you can go there!
Your Next Favorite Course
USC Dornsife courses are shaped by faculty who infuse their research and scholarly interests into the lesson plans, taking you on a road of discovery that is both cutting-edge and entirely unique.
Distinctly Dornsife
Global impact of Japanese design is focus of USC Dornsife course, supported by new endowment
Local city councilman, businessman and USC Dornsife alumnus Jon Kaji and his siblings establish Bruce and Frances Kaji Family Endowed East Asian Studies Center (EASC) Fund.
Death on the Ganges: Students explore how death and religion intertwine in India
A Maymester course brought undergraduates to religious sites across India, where they observed how traditions around death help form how the country’s citizens view themselves and their place in the world.
Philosophy course puts ideas on trial
From Socrates to the Salem witch trials, what happens when ideas go on trial? Prof. Ed McCann’s philosophy course explores how the legal system can shift the direction of an entire culture when a person is taken to trial for their perspective and beliefs.
Prayer and peyote: Students learn the the religious uses of mind-altering substances
Peyote, cannabis, and coffee have all been used in religious practices around the world. In Prof. James McHugh’s course “Drugs, Alcohol, Visions and Altered States in Religion,” students investigate how some substances have been treated throughout history.
Students dig into a course about Abuela’s cooking
From interviewing to video editing, students in “Recording the Voices of Latinx Women & Food in Los Angeles” used a wide swath of skills to amplify the voices of indigenous, mestiza, Mexican American and Afro-Mexican grandmothers and their food culture traditions — work that was featured in a public exhibit.
Ecology class has students bugging out
An ecology class taught by Prof. Julie Hopper gets students doing their own field research: catching insects around the world. In the process, they see the mechanics of evolution up close and personal — and squirmy.
Play With Your Food
In the “Biology of Food” course taught by Grayson Jaggers, students discover the molecular science behind why the food we love (or loathe) tastes the way it does. Weekly lab meetings give students hands-on experience with the scientific process. Fill your mind … and your belly!
An Education Without Limits
USC Dornsife students find their way and discover incredible learning opportunities in every corner of the globe. This can take the form of singular experiential learning offerings or a new venture they’ve initiated all on their own.
Applied Learning Amplified
USC Students’ D.C. Dreams Come True
Thanks to a generous $10 million gift, more undergraduate and graduate students from low- and middle-income families will have opportunities to travel to and learn in the nation’s capital.
In Central Asia, students advocate for human rights amid geopolitical tensions
A USC Dornsife Maymester course offers undergraduates an opportunity to engage with human rights activists, politicians and diplomats in one of the world’s least studied, most fraught regions.
Students meet Washington insiders and connect theory with practice in the nation’s capital
Through the generosity of donors, the Dornsife Washington DC Program immerses students in real-world policymaking through internships and courses.
Students uncover skeleton in the ancient city of Pompeii
Three USC Dornsife students helped excavate the 2,000 year-old, partially mummified remains of a citizen of the lost Roman city.
New program brings the magic of scuba diving to a more diverse crowd
USC Dornsife’s Wrigley Institute Scientific Diving Discovery Program helps students from underrepresented groups get certified as professional science divers.
A physics major built a car that goes from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds— next is Harvard Law School
Jonathan Laifman’s passion for cars remained a constant while he decided on a career path at USC Dornsife, an explorative journey that led him to both physics and law.
Student launches hair care line for Black men
Inspired by an international relations course — and her brother’s tendency to tap into her own hair care supply — international relations and global business major Shamillah Iga looks to meet a demand among men looking to sport longer hairstyles.
Students learn the power of the (downward facing) dog
Through a summer course in Tulum, Mexico, USC students learn yoga and mindfulness. It’s part of a new minor aimed at helping students take control of their health.
Contact Us
USC Dornsife Office of Admission and Student Success
3709 Trousdale Parkway
Mudd Hall of Philosophy (MHP) 106
Los Angeles, CA 90089