Founded in 1880 as a Methodist University, on land donated by three wealthy Los Angeles residents, it has grown to international prominence. The university opened with
an enrollment of 53 students and a faculty of 10. Its first graduating class in 1884 was a
class of three - two men and a woman valedictorian. The University is no
longer a Methodist institution, having ended formal ties with the church several decades ago; it is currently not religiously
affiliated.USC has grown substantially since its founding. Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus"), which lies about 2 miles
southwest of downtown Los Angeles, 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.Pleasant in appearance (it has stood in for such institutions as Harvard and Cal-Berkeley in films), the University Park campus is adjacent to South Central Los Angeles, and located 2 miles southwest
of downtown. The neighborhoods surrounding the campus are among the most culturally vibrant and historically significant in the
city.Filled with neighbors, students, faculty, parents, and professionals who care about each other and their neighborhood, this
culturally diverse, living laboratory of community collaboration has become the model for urban revitalization. USC's role in
making visible and sustained improvements in the crime-plagued neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health
Sciences campuses earned it the distinction of College of the Year 2000 by
TIME
magazine and The Princeton Review. Roughly half of the university's students volunteer in community-service programs in
neighborhoods around campus and throughout Los Angeles.USC's most recent fund-raising drive raised nearly $2.9 billion, which is the largest total of any academic fund-raising drive
in the history of higher education. USC and its partner institutions have recently completed or soon will be constructing 27 new
buildings, which will provide nearly 8.1 million square feet (750,000 m²) of new space for research, teaching, patient care, and
enrichment of student life.