Executive Compensation at the University of Southern California (USC) 2025

The University of Southern California (USC) is a privately funded research university (not publicly funded like many state universities ) and is therefore governed by a board of trustees (as opposed to a state legislature or board of regents) with about 47,000 students (21,000 undergraduate and 26,000 graduate and professional students) in California.

Approximately 80,000 undergraduate students apply annually; 11% or 3,000 are admitted and about 3,500 matriculated.  Annual tuition, room and board is about $100,000 or about $400,000 for a 4-year degree.

When analyzing colleges and universities generally, there are 8 key numbers to look at:

In 2025, USC reported the following information:

• Revenue:  $5.9 billion
• Contributions/Gifts/Grants:  Received $1.4 billion
• Tuition and Fees:  Received $2.6 billion
• Investment Income/Gains/Royalties:  Received $425 million
• Expenses:  $5.6 billion (including $235 million in depreciation)
• Grants:  Awarded $847 million in grants to students (domestic)
• Net Income:  $342 million
• Net Assets:  $11.3 billion (up $1 billion from the previous year)

In other words,  USC took in sufficient income to cover all expenses and make $342 million in 2025 (compared to $37 million in 2024, $43 million in 2023 and $518 million in 2022).

When analyzing compensation at colleges and universities, there are 8 key items to look at:

In 2025, USC reported the following information:

• Total Number of Employees:    46,305
• Total Number of Employees Receiving More Than $100,000:  10,741
• Total Compensation:   $3 billion to employees
• Highly Compensated Employees:   31 employees were reported to be highly compensated (see below):
• Did the school pay for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, personal services, a personal residence or a housing allowance, discretionary spending accounts gross up payments of tax indemnification, or payments for business use of personal residence: USC  reported paying for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, a personal residence or providing a housing allowance, personal services, and making gross up payments or tax indemnifications;
• Personal loans to employees:   USC reported making 15 housing loans for $15 million to employees with the principal amount $250,000 – $2.6 million and the balance due $133,000  – $2.5 million or a total due of $12 million;
• Most highly compensated independent contractors and how much did they receive: 930 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation (the 5 highest are listed below) and
• Supplemental Retirement Plans: USC participates in supplemental retirement plans (see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III Supplemental Information for details).

46,305 employees received $3 billion in compensation, or an average of $66,000 in 2025. 10,741  employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with 31 of the most highly compensated reported to be:

• $11,802,958:  Lincoln Riley, Head Football Coach
• $ 6,104,853:  Eric Musselman, Head Mens Basketball Coach
• $ 4,301,294:  Carol L Folt, President/Trustee
• $ 4,050,566:  Louis A Vandermolen, Professor of Clinical Medicine
• $ 3,959,981:  Vaughn Starnes, Chair and Dist Professor, Surgery
• $ 3,285,046:  Steven D Shapiro, SVP, Health Affairs
• $ 3,141,326:  Gill Inderbir, Chair and Diet Professor, Urology
• $ 2,498,697:  Rod Hanners, CEO, Keck Medicine of USC
• $ 2,300,862:  Amy Diamond, Chief Investment Officer
• $ 1,717,711:  Carolyn Meltzer, Dean, School of Medicine
• $ 1,592,344:  Beong-S00 Kim, SVP, General Counsel
• $ 1,530,880:  Erik Brink, SVP, Finance and CFO
• $ 1,488,898:  Felicia A Washington, Former SVP, HR (until 8/31/24)
• $ 1,324,377:  Geoffrey Garrett, Dean, Marshall School of Business
• $ 1,283,972:  Andrew Guzman, Provost and SVP
• $ 1,249,533:  Scott Rabenold, SVP, University Advancement
• $ 1,086,736:  Ishwar K Puri, SVP, Research and Innovation
• $ 1,014,910:  Joel Curran, SVP, Chief Communications Officer
• $  926,979:  David W Wright, SVP, Administration
• $  832,961:  Tracey Vranich, Former SVP
• $  780,560:  Samuel Garrison, SVP, University Relations
• $  741,114:  Laura Mosqueda, Professor of Family Medicine and Geriatrics
• $   727,007:  Yannis C Yortsos, Dean, Viterbi School of Engineering
• $   691,210:  Stacy Reade Roberts, Interim SVP, Human Resources
• $   588,159:  Carolyn Domen-Broshears, Secretary
• $   575,505:  Amber Miller, Dean
• $  568,897:  Elizabeth Graddy,Former Interim Provost and SVP
• $   533,390:  Mohammed El-Naggar,
• $   370,603:  Glenn Osaki, Senior Advisor, International Marketing and Communications
• $   303,626:  Narsing Rao, Former Interim Dean, Keck Medicine of USC
• $   283,615:  Charles F Zukoski, Former Provost and SVP

The 31 highly compensated employees listed above received $62 million in compensation.  21 0f the 31 (68%) most highly compensated employees are male while 10 of the 31 (32%) are female.  The most highly compensated employee was Lincoln Riley, the head football coach who received nearly $12 million in 2025.

USC paid for first class or charter travel, personal services (i.e maid, chauffeur, chef), health or social club dues or initiation fees, housing allowances or residence for personal use, gross up payments or tax indemnificaitions.  For detail on these expenses, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

USC made 15 housing loans to 10 employees totaling $15 million with the balance due at $12 million.  See the Form 990, Schedule L, Part II, Loans to and From Interested Persons for more details.

930 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in 2025. The 5 most highly compensated were reported to be:

• $113 million:  The Turner Corp, of NY, NY for construction services
• $ 51 million:  Clarke Construction Group, of Costa Mesa, CA for construction services
• $ 20 million:  Ernst and Young, of NY, NY for consulting services
• $ 18 million:  NC Olsen Construction Co, of Monrovia, CA for construction services
• $ 18 million:  Aramark, of Philadelphia, PA for food services

To read the Form 990 (2024 for the year ending June 30, 2025), click here.