Did you know that USC Engineering is where the Internet’s domain name system – the “dot.com” structure – originated? And that one of our faculty members developed the codes that allow CD’s to play clearly? Or that even our name is a symbol of innovation? Andrew J. Viterbi, one of our graduates and the co-founder of Qualcomm, wrote the algorithm that powers your cell phone – and over 200 million others like it.

 

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering consistently ranks in the top ten in U. S. News & World Report's list of the nation's best graduate programs in engineering. We score high on some crucial yardsticks: visionary leadership, dynamic faculty, unique programs, extensive national-level research in critical technologies and a student body that gets better each year. 

 

We have 27 faculty members who have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering and over 40 others who have earned National Science Foundation Career Awards. We are not resting on our laurels, however. While many other top engineering schools are trying to ride out an economic hurricane, we’ve added a 35 new faculty members over the past three years, broadening excellence in all our departments. 

 

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering draws students from all 50 United States, and 110 countries internationally. Our 1,800 undergraduates and 3,300 graduate students thrive in outstanding learning and living environments.

Each entering class over the last decade has been statistically superior to its predecessor. This year’s class is by far our best ever. 

 

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering offers some 30 different degree programs to undergraduates, and has more than 25 degree options for graduate students. Several of them, like our programs in multimedia and cybersecurity, are either unique to USC, or based on special research strengths we have. All of them, whether in traditional or emerging fields, are taught by faculty that are producing the latest knowledge, not just passing it on to a new generation.

 

We have two National Science Foundation engineering research centers, the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Center for Biomimetic MicroElectronics Systems, among our 25 major research centers. Only four schools in the nation can make that claim. We are also the home of the Information Sciences Institute, recognized internationally as a vital American research resource. Last year, we conducted over $135 million in externally funded research, placing us among the nation’s leaders and #1 in research support per faculty member for 2004.

 

When you have found a university that offers everything you are looking for—exceptional students taught by great faculty on a beautiful campus in an exciting location—cost should not be the primary factor determining whether to apply or attend. But that is not to say that value – what you get for the cost – should not be an important consideration. U. S. News & World Report ranks USC among the top 25 universities in the nation for the value obtained.     

 

Our students enjoy state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, and live interactive high-speed Internet broadcast systems setting new standards. Tutor Hall, the new high-tech home for our undergraduates, also houses our fast expanding research programs in emerging areas like nanotechnologies.

 

An asset admired and envied throughout education, the Trojan Family includes the networking power of 25,000 engineering alumni. USC Engineers were taught to be leaders, not just practitioners. They conceive and develop new products, and lead major efforts that span the range from huge construction projects to the micro-miniature world of nanotechnology. The talent and commitment of our USC Engineering alumni are among our greatest strengths.

 

We are at the heart of the principal world center for communications. Southern California’s media – more and more technology-based - shape life globally. Southern California is also the American gateway – some would say the capital – for the Pacific Rim, the future’s fast emerging market. And the region is a hotbed of biotech research and development. We consciously use these and many other regional assets – as a real-world laboratory for our students, as a marketplace for our ideas and people, and as a source for our dreams. Your future is here.