University of Southern California (Gould)

699 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071
(213) 740-2523

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National Comparison: Overview of Facts

#1 in Private Sector Salary

USC Law is tied for #1 in terms of the median starting salary among graduates working in private practice as law firm associates ($180,000).

#6 in Highest Tuition

USC Law ranks #6 in terms of highest tuition among full-time law students ($64,908). We rank from a total of 283 tuition rates from 194 law schools, ranking twice those law schools that have different in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

#8 in Acceptance Rate

USC Law ranks #8 in terms of student selectivity with an acceptance rate of 19.2% among those who applied for admission.

#18 in Median Undergraduate GPA

USC Law ranks #18 in terms of highest median undergraduate GPA (3.78) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students.

#19 in Median LSAT

USC Law is tied for #19 in terms of the median LSAT score (166) among those applicants granted admission who enrolled as full-time students. The LSAT measures reading comprehension, analytical reasoning, and logical reasoning.

#21 in Employment Rate at Graduation

#23 in Employment Rate at 10 Months
USC Law ranks #21 in terms of graduates employed at the time of graduation (71.8%) and #23 in terms of graduates employed ten months after graduation (87.6%).

#35 in Presence of Minority Students

USC Law ranks #35 in terms of the highest percentage of students who are racial or ethnic minority (46.4%).

#39 in Student to Faculty Ratio

USC Law is tied for #39 in terms of lowest student to faculty ratio (5.9:1).

#46 in Bar Passage Rate

USC Law ranks #46 in terms of bar passage rate among first-time test takers (87.6%), and it outperforms by +29.3% the state of California’s overall bar passage rate of 58.3%. (A national comparison on this metric should be taken in a qualified sense and with caution, because every state has a different bar passage rate.)

#60 in Public Sector Salary

USC Law is tied for #60 in terms of median starting salary among graduates working in government jobs or judicial clerkships at the federal or state level ($58,000).

#65 in Presence of Minority Faculty

USC Law ranks #65 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are racial or ethnic minority (15.0%).

#91 in Library Size

USC Law ranks #91 in terms of library size with 428,076 volumes or equivalents.

#162 in Presence of Female Faculty

USC Law is tied for #162 in terms of the highest percentage of faculty who are female (32.1%).

Fall 2020 Application Information

Application Deadline: February 1
Application Fee: $75

Admissions Statistics

2020 2017
Acceptance Rate 19.2% 29.9%
LSAT Score (Median) 166 164
LSAT Score (25th-75th percentile) 163-167 161-167
GPA (Median) 3.78 3.68
GPA Range (25th-75th percentile) 3.61-3.89 3.49-3.86

Bar Exam Statistics

2020 2017
State in which most graduates took bar exam: CA CA
School's bar passage rate: 87.6% 86.4%
State overall bar passage rate: 58.3% 60.2%
School bar pass rate vs. state bar pass rate: +29.3% +26.2%

Employment Statistics

2020 2017
Graduates employed at graduation: 71.8% 77.4%
Graduates employed 10 months after graduation: 87.6% 85.7%

Tuition and Expenses

2020 2017
Tuition: $64,908 $58,022
Room and Board: $17,802 $16,300
Proportion of full-time students receiving grants: 93.3% 89.1%
Median grant amount among full-time students: $30,000 $25,000
Average indebtedness of those who incurred debt: $131,148 $134,673
Proportion of graduates who incurred debt: 62.4% 70.1%
View National Comparison

Students & Faculty

2020 2017
Total Students: 614 598
Men: 48.4% 52.5%
Women: 51.6% 47.5%
Student Racial Demographics:

White: 53.6% N/A
Black: 6.8% N/A
Hispanic: 7.3% N/A
Asian: 14.8% N/A
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 5.9 : 1 N/A
Total Faculty: 193 N/A
Male: 67.9% N/A
Female: 32.1% N/A
Minority: 15.0% N/A

Full-Time Starting Salaries

2020 2017
Private Sector (Median): $180,000 $160,000
Public Sector (Median): $58,000 $24,000
View National Comparison

Library Resources

2020 2017
Volumes and equivalents: 428,076 486,666