2003 and 2004. The Trojan Marching Band performed at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan. In May 2006, the Trojan Marching Band traveled to Italy, performing once in Florence, and twice in Rome (including in front of the Coliseum). The band has also, for many years, performed the 1812 O

s released hundreds of crickets into the main UCLA library during finals week.[125] Days before a clash between rivals UCLA and USC in 2009, the Bruins mascot was vandalized. It was splashed in cardinal and

The drum major of the Spirit of Troy wears a more elaborate uniform and conducts the band with a sword.
USC's marching band, known as The Spirit of Troy, has been featured in at least 10 major movies, and has performed in both the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[127] They have also performed on television shows and with other musicians.
The band performed on the title track of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk, which went on to be a multi-platinum record. In 1990, the band performed live on America's Funniest Home Videos.[128] Additionally, the band later played on another multi-platinum Fleetwood Mac album, The Dance (1997).[129] The Spirit of Troy is the only collegiate band to have two platinum records.[130][131] In recent years, the band has appeared at the 2009 Grammy Awards, accompanying Radiohead; on the 2009 Academy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles and Hugh Jackman; and during the finale of American Idol 2008, backing Renaldo Lapuz in instrumentation of his original song "We're Brothers Forever."[132][133][134] In 2009, the band played on the show Dancing With the Stars.[135]
The USC band was only one of two American groups invited to march in the Hong Kong Chinese New Year parade in 2003 and 2004. The Trojan Marching Band performed at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan. In May 2006, the Trojan Marching Band traveled to Italy, performing once in Florence, and twice in Rome (including in front of the Coliseum). The band has also, for many years, performed the 1812 Overture with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (or occasionally with other orchestras) each year at the Hollywood Bowl "Tchaikovsky Spectacular".[136]
Spirit groups[edit]


The Song Girls celebrating a USC Trojans football victory
Founded in 1967, the USC Song Girls appear at all football, basketball, and volleyball games as well as rallies, university and alumni functions.[137] Unlike other college cheer teams, Song Girls are primarily a dance squad and do not perform gymnastics, stunts or lead cheers.[138] Founded in 1919, the USC Yell Leaders worked closely with The Spirit of Troy (USC Band) and the Song Girls to lead cheers and perform stunts to rally Trojan fans at football, basketball, and volleyball games. The sweater-clad team consisted of all men for most of its existence, though the squad later opened itself up to applicants from both sexes and did feature one female Yell Leader in 1998.[139] They were disbanded by the University after the 2005–06 season and replaced by the co-ed Spirit Leaders.[140]
Student media[edit]
The Daily Trojan has been the student newspaper of USC since 1912 and is a primary source of news and information for the campus. It secured the first interview of President Richard Nixon after his resignation. The publication does not receive financial aid from the university and instead runs entirely on advertisement revenue. Published from Monday to Friday during the fall and spring semesters, the newspaper turns into the Summer Trojan during the summer term and publishes once a week. It is the paper of record on campus.
Trojan Vision (often abbreviated as TV8) is the Student television station at USC. TV8 was established in 1997 by the Annenberg School for Communication, but is now a part of the School of Cinematic Arts. Trojan Vision broadcasts 24/7 from thegold paint, USC's official colors sparking memories of pranks played in the years earlier.[126] The week preceding the annual football matchup with UCLA is known as "Troy Week" a

8] Seven players have won the Heisman Trophy, although the school claims six, after alleged violations involving Reggie Bush. As of 2011, 472 Trojans have been taken in the NFL Draft, more than any other university.[119] Women's sports[edit] Women's teams have earned 23 national championships. The Women of Troy have brought home 64 individual NCAA crowns. Two Women of Troy athletes have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate w

 a USC football game
In men's sports, USC has won 93 team national championships (80 NCAA titles) - more than any other school - and male athletes have won a record 303 individual NCAA titles. The Trojans have won 26 championships in track and field, 20 in tennis, 12 in baseball, 9 in swimming and diving, 7 in water polo, 6 in volleyball, 2 in indoor track and field, and 1 in gymnastics.[c] USC's men's basketball has appeared in the NCAA tournament 15 times, and made 2 NCAA Final Four appearances.
The USC football program has consistently ranked among the best in the Division I FBS in recent years. During the term of Pete Carroll as head coach, the Trojans improved their rankings and competed in a variety of bowls and championships. The Trojans football team has won 11 national championships.[118] Seven players have won the Heisman Trophy, although the school claims six, after alleged violations involving Reggie Bush. As of 2011, 472 Trojans have been taken in the NFL Draft, more than any other university.[119]
Women's sports[edit]
Women's teams have earned 23 national championships. The Women of Troy have brought home 64 individual NCAA crowns. Two Women of Troy athletes have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Cheryl Miller (1983–84) and Angela Williams (2001–02). And Trojan women have won 8 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport.
The Women of Troy have won 7 championships in tennis, 6 in volleyball, 3 in water polo, 2 in golf, 2 in basketball, 1 in swimming and diving, 1 in track and field, and 1 in soccer.
Traditions and student activities[edit]



USC mascot Traveler with Trojan Warrior and The Spirit of Troy
As one of the oldest universities in California, the University of Southern California has a long and storied history resulting in a number of modern traditions, some of which are outlined here:
USC's official fight song is "Fight On", which was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet (with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant).
Rivalries[edit]


During the week prior to the traditional USC-UCLA rivalry football game, the Tommy Trojan statue is covered to prevent UCLA vandalism.
Main articles: Notre Dame – USC rivalry and UCLA–USC rivalry
USC has rivalries with multiple schools. Though generally limited to football, USC has a major rivalry with Notre Dame. The annual game is played for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The rivalry has featured more national championship teams, Heisman trop

2007 USC expended $415.2 million on research, and major funding came from federal agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services granted $182.4 million, Department of Defense $45.7 million, and National Science Foundation $41.8 million.[107] Total foundation and association sponsorship totaled $43.1 million, corporate research $30.6 million, and local government funding totaled $28.1 million.[107] The university also supports the Pacific Council on International Policy through joint programming, leadership collaboration

The Eileen L. Norris Cinema Theatre, where the THX sound system was first developed and installed by Tomlinson Holman.[99]
USC employs approximately 3,249 full-time faculty, 1,486 part-time faculty, and about 10,744 staff members.[2] 350 postdoctoral fellows are supported along with over 800 medical residents.[100] Among the USC faculty, 12 have been elected to the National Academy of Science,[101] 35 to the National Academy of Engineering,[101] 13 to the Institute of Medicine,[101] 21 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[102] 75 to the American Association for the Advancement of Science,[102] 6 to the American Philosophical Society,[102] and 9 to the National Academy of Public Administration.[102] 29 USC faculty are listed as among the "Highly Cited" in the Institute for Scientific Information database.[103] George Olah won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[104] and was the founding director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. Leonard Adleman won the Turing Award in 2003.[105] Arieh Warshel won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry [106]
In fiscal year 2007 USC expended $415.2 million on research, and major funding came from federal agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services granted $182.4 million, Department of Defense $45.7 million, and National Science Foundation $41.8 million.[107] Total foundation and association sponsorship totaled $43.1 million, corporate research $30.6 million, and local government funding totaled $28.1 million.[107]
The university also supports the Pacific Council on International Policy through joint programming, leadership collaboration, and facilitated connections among students, faculty, and Pacific Council members.[108]
The university has two National Science Foundation–funded Engineering Research Centers: the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems. [109] The Department of Homeland Security selected USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence. Since 1991, USC has been the headquarters of the NSF and USGS funded Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The University of Southern California is a founding and charter member of CENIC, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, the nonprofit organization, which provides extremely high-performance Internet-based networking to California's K-20 research and education community. USC researcher Jonathan Postel was an editor of communications-protocol for the fledgling internet, also known as ARPANET.[110]
Notable USC faculty include or have included the following: Leonard Adleman, Richard Bellman, Aimee Bender, Barry Boehm, Warren Bennis, Todd Boyd, T.C. Boyle, Leo Buscaglia, Drew Casper, Manuel Castells, Erwin Chemerinsky, Thomas Crow, António Damásio, Francis De Erdely, Percival Everett, Murray Gell-Mann, Seymour Ginsburg, G. Thomas Goodnight, Jane Goodall, Solomon Golomb, Midori Goto, Susan Estrich, Janet Fitch, Tomlinson Holman, Henry Jenkins, Thomas H. Jordan, Pierre Koenig, Neil Leach, Leonard Maltin, Daniel L. McFadden, George Olah, Paul Orfalea, George V. Chilingar, Simon Ramo, Irving Reed, Michael Waterman, Frank Gehry, Arieh Warshel, Lloyd Welch, Jonathan Taplin and Diane Winston.
Alumni[edit]

3.72 3.70 3.70 Average SAT (out of 2400) 2070

Freshman Applicants    46,104    37,210    35,794    35,753
Admitted   
9,187
8,566
8,715
 % Admitted   
19.9
23.0
22.8
Enrollment   
3,021
2,931
2,972
2,869
Average GPA   
3.70
3.72
3.70
3.70
Average SAT
(out of 2400)   
2070
2075
2060
*SAT from middle 50% of entering class
37,210 students applied for admission to the undergraduate class of 2015, with 8,566 being admitted (23%) and 2,931 enrolling (34% yield). Among admitted students, the interquartile range for SAT composite scores was 2020-2240[96] and the average unweighted GPA was 3.80, while among enrolled freshmen, the SAT range was 1970-2180 and the average GPA was 3.72.[97] 20 percent of admitted and attending students are SCions, or students with familial ties to USC, while 14 percent are the first generation in their family to attend any form of college. There were also 247 National Merit Scholar winners and 7 National Achievement Scholars in the admitted class. USC ranks among the top five schools in the nation in terms of its enrollment of National Merit Scholars.[98] USC's admission rate has dropped to 20% for the class of 2016, following its adoption of the Common Application.
2012-2013 Undergraduate Estimate of Costs at USC Tuition $43,722 Mandatory fees $741 Room and board* 12,440 Books and supplies $1,500 Personal and miscellaneous $900 Transportation $580.00 Total $59,883 + $150 USC Orientation fee for the 1st semester
Faculty and research[edit]

e United States. Princeton Review's "College Hopes & Worries" 2010 survey reports USC as the 9th dream college for both students and parents separately.[86] Student body[edit] Ethnic composition of student body[87] Undergraduate Graduate & Professional U.S. Census

s 11th nationally,[81]
USC was named "College of the Year 2000" by the editors of Time and The Princeton Review for the university's extensive community-service programs.[82]
"The Hollywood Reporter" ranked USC School of Cinematic Arts the #1 film school in the world, beating out the "American Film Institute" and "UCLA"—two schools who have been previous top contenders. "Best Film Schools". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
The Princeton Review ranked USC video game design program as 1st out of 150 schools in North America.[83] The university's video game design programs are interdisciplinary, involving the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the GamePipe program in the Department of Computer Science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.[84]
The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked USC's combined departments of engineering and computer sciences as 11th in the world, physical sciences 52nd, social sciences 35th, life sciences 51st, clinical medicine and pharmacy 47th.[85] USC is also among top 10 dream colleges in the United States. Princeton Review's "College Hopes & Worries" 2010 survey reports USC as the 9th dream college for both students and parents separately.[86]
Student body[edit]

Ethnic composition of student body[87]
Undergraduate    Graduate &
Professional    U.S. Census[88]
Caucasian    47.0%    31.9%    73.9%
Black    5.8%    4.2%    12.1%
Asian    21.0%    20.2%    4.3%
Hispanic    13.6%    8.1%    14.5%
Native American    0.8%    0.4%    0.9%
International    9.1%    24.7%    (N/A)
USC has a total enrollment of 36,896 students, of which 17,380 are at the undergraduate and 19,516 at the graduate and professional levels.[30] The male-female ratio at USC is nearly 1:1. 31.2% of incoming students are drawn from the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, 20.9% from other areas in California, 39.5% from the rest of the United States, and 8.4% from abroad.[89] USC's student body encompasses 7,115 international students, more than any other university in the United States[90] and the university maintains offices in several countries.[b] There are approximately 200,000 living Trojan Alumni.[91]
Admissions[edit]
First-Time Freshman Profile[92][93][94][95]
2012    2011    2010    2009