Administered through the Office of Admission, USC merit scholarships require students to apply for admission to the university by the December deadline. All students who submit the Common Application and USC Writing Supplement will be automatically considered for a scholarship.

Ranging in value from a few thousand dollars up to full tuition, merit scholarships are awarded based on academic excellence, leadership, service and talent. Scholars represented by the Trojan Scholars Society include those attending USC on the merit-based, full-tuition Trustee scholarships and the half-tuition Presidential Scholarship. 

Disclaimer: TSS has no part in managing the selection process of new scholars. Admissions information can be found here.

Eligible Scholarships

All scholarships cover 8 semesters of enrollment, 10 semesters for students accepted to the architecture program.

Presidential Scholarship: The Presidential Scholarship is open to incoming freshman students and is a half-tuition scholarship awarded to approximately 200 students each year. Administered through the University of Southern California Admissions Office, the Presidential Scholarship is awarded based on academic excellence, leadership, service and talent. 

National Merit Finalist Presidential Scholarship: This scholarship is open to incoming freshman students and is a half-tuition scholarship. The number of awards given varies every year. The scholarship is selected on the basis of PSAT performance and students are considered if they have been designated National Merit Finalists and name USC as their first-choice college with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). 

Trustee Scholarship: The Trustee Scholarship is open to incoming freshman students and is a full-tuition scholarship awarded to approximately 100 students each year. Administered through the University of Southern California Admissions Office, the Trustee Scholarship is awarded based on academic excellence, leadership, service and talent. 

Note: This is not the full list of merit scholarships available for students. In order to be a member of the Trojan Scholars Society, students must be recipients of one of the scholarships listed above.

A full list of USC scholarships is available here.

More information about the Office of Academic and Fellowships can be found here.