University of Southern California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951642394
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2138211900
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,927,980,342
Expenses
$5,586,359,463
Assets
$16,956,079,936
Liabilities
$5,631,510,850

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

70 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROL L FOLT (PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE)
  • ROD HANNERS (CEO KECK MEDICINE OF USC)

Highest reported compensation

  • LINCOLN RILEY (HEAD FOOTBALL COACH): $11,802,958 total reported compensation
  • ERIC MUSSELMAN (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR TITLE): $6,104,853 total reported compensation
  • CAROL L FOLT (PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE): $4,301,294 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction and research: approximately 20,000 students in undergraduate classes: approximately 26,000 students in graduate and professional classes: 5,900 bachelor degrees conferred and 12,520 advanced degrees conferred in 2024-2025. The major research is in medicine, engineering and the sciences. The institution has 459 contracts/grants awarded by the federal government and 305 awarded in 2024-2025 by private corporations, foundations, other universities, or state and local governments for basic research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 68% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.9%; rating input score 95; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.04; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 39 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.6B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $11.8M · 70 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $220.4M reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 45 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 384 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 369 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.