The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business finished at No. 3 in our 2025 ranking of the best undergraduate business programs in the U.S. – down one place from last year’s ranking.
Marshall offers a high quality business education that is characterized by experiential learning opportunities. Of the three methodological categories, Marshall placed highest in Academic Experience (No. 2 out of 104 ranked programs) as measured by alumni responses to our alumni survey. Marshall also placed 7th in Career Outcomes and 3rd in Admission Standards.
Marshall’s acceptance rate for incoming 2024 freshman was 7% and it had an average SAT score of 1496. Some 90% of its incoming class reported being in the top 10% of their high school class.
INTERNSHIPS AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES
Both internship and employment outcomes for Marshall graduates were especially strong this year. An impressive 100% of Class of 2024 secured a business-specific internship before graduation, up from 92% of the previous class. Similarly, some 97.49% of job-seeking 2024 graduates secured a job within three months, up from 95.4% for the previous class.
The reported average starting salary was $90,188 for Class of 2024 grads, compared to $93,247 for the Class of 2023.
Within the business school, students choose from a business administration major or an accounting major. However, USC Marshall has one of the most unique degree programs in the World Bachelor in Business Program. A joint program more akin to an executive MBA than a bachelor’s degree in business, students spend for years studying at Marshall, HKUST Business School in Hong Kong, and Università Bocconi in Milan, Italy.
“The World Bachelor Program in particular touches on things like university processes, admissions, housing, and medical insurance,” Vice Dean of Undergraduate Programs at USC Marshall Tyrone Callahan told Poets&Quants in July 2021. “We had to make sure we considered every aspect of the program and what the student experience would be like. Through that, I was able to learn a lot about how the university works in different capacities in a way that most faculty members are unaware of.”
Incoming students have the opportunity to experience the state-of-the-art Jill and Frank Fertitta Hall. Before, the undergraduate population had been spread out among multiple buildings, but Fertitta Hall serves as a hub for undergraduates at Marshall.
“Within the business curriculum, students have a minimum of 24 free electives, and that’s enough to do pretty much every minor,” Callahan pointed out in his interview.
For more info about USC Marshall, see this exclusive interview with Tyrone Callahan. For an exclusive feature on the World Bachelors in Business program, click here.
HIGH MARKS BY ALUMNI
Alumni responding to our 2025 ranking survey gave the program particularly high marks this cycle. That includes giving the program a 9.8 out of 10 on the question how likely they would be to recommend the program to a friend, family member, or colleague. Among the highest marks for any of the 105 schools we ranked this year.
Alumni also rated their quality of their professors a 9.4 out of 10, and gave the extracurricular opportunities outside of the classroom a 9.5. Some 69.77% reported engaging in a significant “signature experience,” such as a global immersion, capstone or consulting project, or significant experiential learning.
“Each business class had a group project which required you to present in front of class. They also had a more discussion based lecture format as opposed to pure listening. Both of these experiences were part of each of my business school classes and helped me tremendously in personal and professional development,” a recent alum told us in the survey.
Adds another: “We had these awesome business simulations within our classes called the Experiential Learning Center (ELC). I loved these because they were real world business problems/simulations for us to solve and deliver on. We would then have open discussions on the different scenarios and solutions presented. These simulations really helped develop my critical thinking skills, people management skills, and presentation/pitching skills.”
ALUMNI SAY …
“Marshall structures its curriculum around real-world business involvement. I participated in many consulting projects and presented directly to companies in most classes. USIF is an opportunity to actively manage a portion of the school’s endowment with a cohort of peers, and it was a life-changing course and a large part of how I have succeeded today.”
“The Global Leadership Program (GLP) taught me critical traits for success in the business setting: e.g., discipline, communication, networking, creativity, etc. And it did so with realistic experiential exercises and industry expert speakers. GLP prepared me well for my career.”
“In my first year of Undergraduate business school, we had the opportunity to choose an international location of our choice (China, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires as options to name a few) and we could pick the location of our choice and then we spent the first half of the semester learning about the culture and professional landscape of that city/country. Along with that, we were divided in groups and given a case study for the company based in the city. We worked with our group to come up with an actionable solution for the company. We then were taken on a trip to this city to present to executives at the company, often the HQ. We accompanied all the groups, even in the ones we weren’t presenting. This was one of the most transformative experiences in business school and to have had it in my first year was so valuable in shaping how my next 3 years as well as my perspective on work post graduation. I believe this is a very unique experience to have had in my undergrad!”
“Studying and growing at USC is an unparalleled experience that one can hope for from an educational institution. Especially for the business and accounting program, I do believe that what I learned and the people who i met in class, both the professors and classmates, have equipped me with all I need to kickstart my career in the industry. The curriculum of the accounting school was designed to be rigorous and to teach us to think critically in the face of rigid accounting rules, which has prepped me very well for my current role. I am proud to say that I have advanced very well in my current job because of the skills i honed at USC. I believe a USC degree opens doors to new opportunities and to meet incredible scholars who have established their careers.”
