University of Southern California

University of Southern California, private, coeducational institution of higher education in Los Angeles, California, commonly known as USC. The school was established in 1879 by the Methodist Episcopal Church and was opened for instruction in 1880; it became a nonsectarian institution in 1928.

The university confers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees in a wide range of fields. USC includes a college of letters, arts, and sciences; a graduate school; and schools of architecture, business administration, cinema and television, dentistry, education, engineering, fine arts, gerontology, law, medicine, music, pharmacy, public administration, safety and systems management, social work, theater, and urban and regional planning.

Special facilities include Hancock Foundation and Institute for Marine Studies; Annenberg School for Communication; Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute; Von Kleinsmid Center for International Relations and Public Administration; and the Neural, Informational, and Behavioral Sciences Program. Notable alumni of the University of Southern California include former United States secretary of state Warren Christopher, architect Frank Gehry, director George Lucas, U.S. Army officer H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and actor John Wayne.