USC Acceptance Rate: Class of 2030 Admissions Statistics

The University of Southern California’s (USC) acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 11.2%, with 9,345 students admitted out of 83,488 applicants, making it a highly competitive school to get into.

For the Class of 2030, USC received more than 40,000 Early Action (EA) applications and admitted around 3,800 students in January 2026, resulting in an EA acceptance rate of roughly 9.5%. The university expects to admit around 5,000 more students when Regular Decision (RD) results come out in April 2026.

This blog covers USC’s latest overall, EA, RD, waitlist, and transfer acceptance rates, plus how each has changed over the years.

• USC Acceptance Rates
• USC Early Action Acceptance Rate
• USC Regular Decision Acceptance Rate
• USC Transfer Acceptance Rate
• USC Waitlist Acceptance Rate
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

USC Acceptance Rates

USC’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 11.19%, up from 9.81% for the Class of 2028. While USC admitted roughly 1,300 more students (9,345 vs. 8,050), about 1,500 more students also applied (83,488 vs. 82,027), keeping the level of competitiveness relatively the same between the two years.

That said, the 11.2% rate marks a slight rebound after USC’s acceptance rate steadily declined over the years. Here’s how the numbers have trended over time:

Note: All data has been compiled from USC’s Common Data Set. 

USC’s acceptance rate has been on a general downward trend over the past decade, falling from 15.95% for the Class of 2021 to a low of 9.81% for the Class of 2028. A big part of that shift happened when USC went test-optional for the Class of 2025, which triggered a surge in applications from 59,712 to 71,031, but USC only admitted about 1,000 more students than the previous year, pushing the acceptance rate down from 16.11% to 12.51%.

Selectivity has continued to tighten since, with rates staying in the single to low double digits. The Class of 2029’s 11.2% bucks the trend slightly, but the overall direction has been consistent: USC is significantly harder to get into than it was just a few years ago.

USC Early Action Acceptance Rate

We already know that USC’s EA acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 is roughly 9.5%, based on preliminary data from the Office of Admissions. USC admitted around 3,800 students out of more than 40,000 early applicants. That’s slightly higher than the EA acceptance rate of 8.37% for the Class of 2029, where USC admitted 3,524 students out of 42,119 early applicants.

USC Early Action acceptance rate trends

USC first introduced Early Action during the 2022-23 admissions cycle, so the trend data is still fairly limited. Here’s how EA acceptance rates have looked since then:

Note: Class of 2030 data is preliminary and based on USC’s EA admissions announcements. All other data is from USC’s First-Year Student Profile.

USC’s EA acceptance rate has risen each year since the program launched, climbing from 6.12% for the Class of 2027 to roughly 9.5% for the Class of 2030, the highest since USC introduced Early Action.

Notably, the number of EA applicants has remained relatively stable, hovering between 40,000 and 42,000 each cycle. The growth in the admit rate is largely driven by USC admitting more students early, going from 2,467 for the Class of 2027 to around 3,800 for the Class of 2030.

Still, EA is more competitive than RD, so applying early doesn’t necessarily give you an advantage in terms of odds. Starting with the 2027-28 application cycle, USC will also introduce an Early Decision (ED) option for students who are confident USC is their first choice. We’ll have more data on how ED impacts USC’s admissions numbers once the program launches.

USC Regular Decision Acceptance Rate

USC’s RD acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 14.07%, up from 12.45% for the Class of 2028. USC received a similar number of RD applications both years (41,369 vs. 41,074) but admitted around 700 more students (5,821 vs. 5,112), which pushed the rate up slightly.

For the Class of 2030, RD results are expected to be released in April 2026. USC has already stated that it expects to admit around 5,000 students in this cycle, which is consistent with the past two years where admitted RD students ranged between 5,100 and 5,800.

USC Regular Decision acceptance rate trends

Since USC only introduced EA starting with the Class of 2027, separate EA and RD figures have only been reported from that cycle onward. Here’s how RD acceptance rates have looked since then:

Note: RD figures are estimates calculated from USC’s First-Year Student Profile.

USC’s RD acceptance rate has stayed in a fairly narrow range, fluctuating between 8.08% for the Class of 2028 and 9.19% for the Class of 2029. With only three years of standalone RD data, it’s too early to call a clear trend, but RD acceptance rates have consistently been higher than EA rates across all three cycles, meaning you have a slightly better chance of getting in if you apply RD.

USC Transfer Acceptance Rate

USC’s most recent transfer acceptance rate is 27.1%, based on Fall 2025 data. Here’s the breakdown:

Note: Data is from USC’s Transfer Student Profile.

With a 27.1% acceptance rate, USC’s transfer admission rate is more than twice its overall freshman admit rate of 11.2% for the Class of 2029, making the transfer pathway somewhat less competitive than applying as a first-year. Even so, admission remains selective, with just 2,929 students admitted from a pool of 10,827 applicants.

USC Waitlist Acceptance Rate

USC doesn’t use a waitlist for undergraduate admissions. Unlike many other selective universities that use waitlists to manage enrollment numbers, USC simply admits or denies applicants, with no in-between option.

This means there’s no formal queue of applicants waiting for spots to open up after decisions are released. When fall enrollment reaches capacity, USC may instead offer spring admission to a select group of applicants.

If you want to learn more about how spring admission works at USC, check out our detailed guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is USC’s current acceptance rate?

USC’s current acceptance rate is 11.2% for the Class of 2029, with 9,345 students admitted out of 83,488 applicants.

2. Is it easier to get into USC through Early Action or Regular Decision?

Statistically, EA is harder to get into than RD. For the Class of 2029, USC’s EA acceptance rate was 8.37% compared to 9.19% for RD, a trend that has held across all three cycles since USC introduced EA. EA applicants tend to be among the strongest in the pool, which likely plays a role in those numbers.

3. How hard is it to transfer to USC?

Transferring to USC is competitive, but considerably less so than freshman admissions. USC’s transfer acceptance rate for Fall 2025 was 27.1%, more than double the overall freshman rate of 11.2%.

4. Does USC have a waiting list?

No, USC doesn’t have a traditional waitlist. Instead, when fall enrollment reaches capacity, USC may offer spring admission to a select group of applicants.

5. Why is USC’s acceptance rate so low?

USC’s acceptance rate reflects the gap between growing application volume and a limited number of available spots. As one of the most prominent universities in the country, USC attracts over 80,000 applications each year but can only admit roughly between 7,000 to 9,000 students.

Takeaways

• USC’s acceptance rate has fallen significantly over the past decade, dropping from 15.95% for the Class of 2021 to a low of 9.81% for the Class of 2028, with a slight rebound to 11.2% for the Class of 2029.
• Applying EA doesn’t automatically improve your odds. The Class of 2029 EA rate of 8.37% was actually lower than the RD rate of 9.19%, partly because EA tends to attract the strongest applicants.
• USC doesn’t use a traditional waitlist. When fall enrollment reaches capacity, the university may offer spring admission to a select group of applicants instead.
• Transfer applicants have a significantly better shot, with USC’s Fall 2025 transfer acceptance rate at 27.1%, more than double the freshman rate of 11.19%.
• If you’re applying to USC, working with a college admissions expert can help you navigate the process, strengthen your application, and put your best foot forward in one of the more competitive admissions pools in the country.