USC acceptance ticks upward
USC accepted 11.7% of Fall 2026 applicants—a slightly higher acceptance rate but still highly selective, and the incoming class posted record GPAs. That signal matters for campus competitiveness and the caliber of peers entering the LA tech pipeline (dailytrojan.com).
USC’s Office of Admission reported 79,290 undergraduate applications for the Fall 2026 cycle and extended offers to 9,251 first‑year students. (today.usc.edu) The total applicant pool declined from roughly 83,500 the prior year to 79,290, according to student newspaper reporting. (dailytrojan.com) The admitted cohort’s unweighted average GPA was reported at 3.92 on a 4.0 scale, an increase of 0.02 from the previous year. (dailytrojan.com) USC’s Dean of Admission Timothy Brunold described the incoming group as having “record‑high average GPA and standardized test scores among the strongest in our history.” (today.usc.edu) The admitted class includes scholars from the Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), and USC notes the NAI program has a 100% high‑school graduation rate and a 99% college graduation rate. (today.usc.edu) Early Action reporting from January shows USC admitted about 3,800 early‑action applicants from more than 40,000 EA submissions, a preliminary early round acceptance figure of roughly 9.5%. (dailytrojan.com)
