University of Southern California
Founded in 1880 by three wealthy Los Angeles residents as a Methodist University, it grew to international prominence. Current enrollment is about 28,000 students. The university offers degrees through its College of Letters, Arts,and Sciences, Graduate School and 16 professional schools. The staff includes novelist T.C. Boyle, and Nobel Laureate George Olah.
Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus", about 2 miles southwest of downtown LA), the university includes the Health Sciences Campus about 2 miles northeast of downtown and the Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey. The School of Public Policy and Development runs a satellite campus in Sacramento, California. Another satellite campus in Washington, D.C was closed down in 2002.
The school is best known for its professional schools in law, film, medicine, business and journalism.
The school's sports teams are called the Trojans. Their traditional rival is UCLA. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Pacific Ten Conference. Famous alumni include O. J. Simpson and George Lucas.
