"This university has looked to the future from the very beginning, when its founders gazed on the horizon and saw a land of vast potential. At USC, we invent the future by combining timely innovation with timeless values. Our faculty performs work that is relevant, that leads to breakthroughs."
USC Provost C. L. Max Nikias
USC and Los Angeles
From its inception, the University of Southern California has held a special place in both the literal and figurative heart of Los Angeles. In the early 1870s, when Los Angeles was a rough-and-tumble frontier town with a population of 10,000, a group of public-spirited citizens dreamed of establishing a university in the region. It took nearly a decade for this vision to become reality, and when USC first opened its doors to 53 students and 10 teachers in 1880, Los Angeles still lacked paved streets, electric lights or telephones.
Today, USC is a premier research university with more than 33,000 students and 3,200 full-time faculty in one of the largest metropolises in the world. Both in its surrounding neighborhoods and in the entire Southern California region, USC has lived up to its early promise, providing public leadership and public service in such diverse fields as health care, economic development, educational outreach, social welfare, scientific research, community building and the arts. By working to improve the urban environment and economy, strengthen local businesses, deliver comprehensive health services, showcase cultural activities, foster new technologies and raise the quality of education for neighborhood children, USC has become a vital and integral stabilizing member of its community. As the university continues to grow and expand, so too does its contribution as a catalyst for progress and change, innovation and development of knowledge in the community, classroom, research lab, operating room — and in the world.