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Los Angeles, CA · Theater & drama

Theater & drama at USC

USC graduates about 142 theater majors a year, 2% of its graduating class. That puts it 34th of 642 schools we score for theater, a standout program at 88 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $40,000 four years out, about the national figure for the same major. Research spending in the field runs about $3 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

88/100Standout#34 of 642 for theater →
Graduates a year1422% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$40,0001.00× the same major nationally
Research in the field$3Ma year, NSF
Admit rate10%whole school
SAT middle 50%1470–1540whole school

Around USC

Pau Gasol speaking on the Hoy Stage at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, at the
Pau Gasol 4 12 2014 -3 (13813942725)Photo: Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
Madilyn Bailey judging and performing for iVoice 2016 at Bovard Auditorium on th
Madilyn Bailey 11 10 2016 -8 (30839861451)Photo: Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
USC Physical Education Building (PED), designed by Parkinson & Parkinson as
Physical education building 1Photo: Seauton 13 April 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Ernie Shelton (sculptor), The Wild Bunch - Sporting Sculpture - Campus of Univer
Sporting Sculpture - Campus of University of Southern California - Los Angeles, Photo: Adam Jones, 2012-02-26 12:59, from Kelowna, BC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source

Where theater happens

Buildings on campus that fit the field: Scene Dock Theatre, John Williams Scoring Stage, Technical Theatre Laboratory, Bing Theater.

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 106 · Dorm 15 · Arts 7 · Library 4 · Athletics 3 · Chapel 2.

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Nearby in the theater ranking

  1. CUNY–Hunter College 89
  2. University of Massachusetts–Amherst 88
  3. Baylor University 88
  4. University of Maryland, College Park 88
  5. Dartmouth College 88
  6. University of Pennsylvania 87
  7. University of Cincinnati 87
  8. Stanford University 87

Other strong majors at USC

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares USC with every school we score in theater. It weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.

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