University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private research university in Los Angeles, California, established on October 6, 1880 by Judge Robert Maclay Widney with early donors including Ozro Childs, John Gately Downey and Isaias Wolf Hellman, making it the oldest private research university in California. It began with 53 students and 10 faculty members, was originally affiliated with the Methodist Church before severing formal religious ties in 1952, and now enrolls more than 47,000 students, roughly 21,000 undergraduate and 26,000 graduate or professional, drawn from all 50 U.S. states and more than 115 countries; it joined the Association of American Universities in 1969.