Current Students
A Community of Scholars
Graduate students at USC are key members of the university’s community of scholars, contributing diverse viewpoints and fresh insights that will make a mark on the global context. The Graduate School values the contribution of every graduate student. By adhering to the highest ethical standards, you and your professors establish a positive environment for the open exchange of ideas across our diverse university community. Excellence in graduate and professional education is critically dependent on the exchange of scholarly ideas among an increasingly diverse community of faculty and students. The values that characterize these interactions include dedication to mutual respect, academic rigor and integrity.
Academic Professional Development
The University of Southern California provides rigorous, intellectually challenging, and stimulating research experiences and classroom environments. The Graduate School seeks to complement the efforts of the University by providing opportunities for doctoral students from all disciplines and campuses to engage in professional development focused workshops. Striving to develop a complete and competent academic scholar-practitioner, requisite areas of academic professionalization have been identified such as:
Communication Development
The ability to communicate through written and oral formats in academic and laymen communities is vital to one’s professionalism, to convey research findings, advance an array of dialogues, and assist with complex decision-making.
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
With an increasingly global world and finite amount of resources, local, national, and global problems require the intellectual and problem-solving abilities of an interdisciplinary scholarly collective.
Career Path Preparation
Understanding and preparing for multiple job types is paramount as doctoral students move from the confines of the university to the open job market within and outside academia.
Programmatic Offerings
Providing doctoral students with a honed skill set positions them for greater academic success while at the University of Southern California and in their future professional endeavors.
Resources
Many resources are available to you as a USC graduate student. Among them are the Graduate Student Government, the official voice of the graduate and professional student body; your home program’s staff advisor and your faculty mentor. For information about financial support, visit the USC Financial Aid Office website and the Fellowships section of this site. If you encounter difficulties at any time during your graduate school career, please do not hesitate to contact the Graduate School for assistance. We are here to help ensure that you get the most out of your graduate program at USC.