University of Southern California president salary and executive pay
USC paid its president, Carol L Folt, $4,301,294 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $679,981 (13.7%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $5,927,980,342, up 6.3% from $5,575,301,015 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. USC ranks 8th of 137 universities on this site by president's pay. USC has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. Also known as USC.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 95-1642394, Los Angeles, CA.
President, fiscal year ending June 2025
$4,301,294
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending June 2025
$11,802,958Lincoln RileyHEAD FOOTBALL COACH
- Total revenue
- $5,927,980,342
- Pay vs. peers
- Higher than 20%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202641359349304574.View the filing
Peers: the 131 other universities on this site. Ranked 105th of 132 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.07% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 28 people were paid more than $500,000, 18 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Lincoln RileyHEAD FOOTBALL COACH | $11,802,958 |
| Eric MusselmanSEE SCHEDULE O FOR TITLE | $6,104,853 |
| Carol L Folt President PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE | $4,301,294 |
| Louis Vandermolen MDPROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE | $4,050,566 |
| Vaughn Starnes MDCHAIR & DIST PROG SURGERY | $3,959,981 |
Also paid on the latest return: Steven D Shapiro MD (SVP, HEALTH AFFAIRS), $3,285,046; Inderbir Gill MD (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR TITLE), $3,141,326; Rod Hanners (CEO KECK MEDICINE OF USC), $2,498,697; Amy Diamond (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER), $2,300,862; Carolyn Meltzer MD (DEAN, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE), $1,717,711; Beong-Soo Kim (SVP & GENERAL COUNSEL), $1,592,344; Erik Brink (SVP FINANCE & CFO), $1,513,880; Felicia A Washington (SVP HR (UNTIL 8/31/24)), $1,488,898; Geoffrey Garrett (DEAN, MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUS.), $1,324,377; Andrew T Guzman (PROVOST & SVP ACADEMIC AFFAIRS), $1,283,972; Scott Rabenold (SVP, UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT), $1,249,533; Ishwar K Puri (SVP, RESEARCH & INNOVATION), $1,086,736; Joel Curran (SVP & CHIEF COMMS OFFICER), $1,014,910; David W Wright (SVP, ADMINISTRATION), $926,979; Tracey Vranich (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR TITLE), $832,961; and 12 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Stephanie A Argyros (TRUSTEE), Marc R Benioff (TRUSTEE), Robert D Beyer (TRUSTEE), David C Bohnett (TRUSTEE, VICE CHAIR), Robert A Bradway (TRUSTEE), Rick J Caruso (TRUSTEE), Michele Dedeaux Engemann (TRUSTEE (UNTIL 6/4/25)), Michael A Felix (TRUSTEE), Stayce D Harris (TRUSTEE), Bret W Johnsen (TRUSTEE (AS OF 6/4/25)), Suzanne Nora Johnson (TRUSTEE, CHAIR), Stephen M Keck (TRUSTEE), Kenneth R Klein (TRUSTEE), Jaime L Lee (TRUSTEE), Kathy Leventhal (TRUSTEE), John Mork (TRUSTEE), Oscar Munoz (TRUSTEE), Rod Y Nakamoto (TRUSTEE), Carmen Nava (TRUSTEE), Shelly L Nemirovsky (TRUSTEE), Dominic Ng (TRUSTEE), Patricia Reon Roski (TRUSTEE), Amy A Ross PhD (TRUSTEE), Frederick J Ryan Jr (TRUSTEE), Leonard D Schaeffer (TRUSTEE), and 13 more.
President's pay by year
Each row is the president on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | Carol L Folt President PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE | $4,301,294 | $5,927,980,342 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | Carol L Folt President PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE | $4,981,275 | $5,575,301,015 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | Carol L Folt President PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE | $4,628,109 | $5,119,320,238 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 Amended | Carol L Folt President President/Trustee | $3,895,165 | $5,566,926,612 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending June 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202641359349304574.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Lincoln RileyHEAD FOOTBALL COACH | $11,590,497 | $212,461 | $10,355,294 | $100,000 | $1,135,203 | $34,500 | $177,961 | $11,802,958 |
| Eric MusselmanSEE SCHEDULE O FOR TITLE | $5,809,939 | $294,914 | $3,300,862 | $0 | $2,509,077 | $262,798 | $32,116 | $6,104,853 |
| Carol L FoltPRESIDENT/TRUSTEE | $4,077,317 | $223,977 | $2,030,318 | $850,000 | $1,196,999 | $164,750 | $59,227 | $4,301,294 |
| Louis Vandermolen MDPROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE | $3,880,456 | $170,110 | $3,402,956 | $0 | $477,500 | $79,500 | $90,610 | $4,050,566 |
| Vaughn Starnes MDCHAIR & DIST PROG SURGERY | $3,829,971 | $130,010 | $3,434,141 | $50,000 | $345,830 | $34,500 | $95,510 | $3,959,981 |
These figures come from USC's Form 990 returns, as the IRS publishes them. The methodology page explains how they're chosen. To report an error, email corrections@ceopaycheck.com.
How USC compares
Ranked 8th of 137 universities by president's pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 7th, Baylor College of Medicine, $4,716,352
- Next in this ranking: 9th, Texas Christian University, $3,499,401
Closest in revenue among the universities on this site:
Washington University in St. Louis$2,382,064 (Chancellor), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
University of Chicago$2,082,741 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
University of Rochester$1,803,590 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
University of Miami$6,737,344 (CEO), fiscal year ending May 2025
Duke University$2,200,045 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Common questions
Carol L Folt (PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE) was paid $4,301,294 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $4,077,317 from USC and $223,977 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Lincoln Riley (HEAD FOOTBALL COACH), at $11,802,958. That is $7,501,664 more than the president, Carol L Folt.
USC paid its president, Carol L Folt, $4,301,294 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $679,981 (13.7%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the president was Carol L Folt, paid $3,895,165. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $3,895,165 (Carol L Folt); June 2023, $4,628,109; June 2024, $4,981,275; June 2025, $4,301,294.
USC's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $5,586,359,463 and total revenue of $5,927,980,342 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $341,620,879. Expenses were $5,537,774,928 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 0.9%. The president's pay of $4,301,294 equals 0.08% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns University of Southern California filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 15, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.