The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy (USC Price), previously known as School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD), at the University of Southern California is a leading urban planning, public policy, public administration, real estate development and health policy and management school in the United States. USC Price offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including a doctoral program and several professional and executive master's degree programs. USC Price also offers the Master of Public Administration program at a campus in Sacramento.
Urban planning classes were first delivered at USC in Fall of 1921 by Gordon Whitnall, who was instrumental in founding the Planning Commission of the City of Los Angeles. In 1929, the USC School of Citizenship and Public Administration opened its doors, becoming one of only two programs of its kind in the nation. The school did not resemble very much the larger complex school it is today, but it contained the seeds of what is currently the modern USC Price.
In addition to offering a degree in public administration, the School of Citizenship and Public Administration included classes in urban and regional planning from the outset, which eventually led to the urban and regional planning degree and school at USC. Over time, the School of Public Administration formed the health administration program and the public policy program.
In 1955, the School of Public Administration and the School of Architecture and Fine Arts instituted a graduate program in city and regional planning. The graduate planning program grew into an independent academic unit in the 1960s. In 1971, the Irvine Foundation gave its first USC grant to establish an endowed chair in urban and regional planning. In 1974, the USC Board of Trustees merged the Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning with the Center for Urban Studies to create the School of Planning and Urban Studies, subsequently the School of Urban and Regional Planning, the first planning program in the nation to achieve status as an independent school. The Irvine foundation provided the new school with an additional endowment for the support of graduate students. The school's undergraduate program was offered jointly with the School of Public Administration.
The School of Urban and Regional Planning formed a graduate program in real estate development in 1985, and founded the Lusk Center for Real Estate Development in 1988 with a generous gift from John Lusk and his family. The school also launched a new undergraduate program to compliment its existing program with the School of Public Administration. A gift from Ralph Lewis and his wife Goldy, the co-founders of Lewis Homes, enabled the School to break ground for a new building on May 24, 1995, USC's Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall. The School was renamed the School of Urban Planning and Development in 1996; and in 1998, the USC Board of Trustees merged the School of Urban Planning and Development with the School of Public Administration to form the School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The Lusk Center for Real Estate Development was reorganized into Lusk Center for Real Estate, a university-level research unit jointly administered by USC Price and the USC Marshall School of Business.
In November 2011, the Price Family Charitable Fund gave a $50 million naming gift to honor the life and legacy of USC alumnus Sol Price, founder of Price Club. The school was renamed the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy with the shortened name of USC Price.
As of 2015, USC Price was ranked #1 in the United States among "The 10 Best Graduate Programs" for Urban Planning, according to TheBestColleges.org.
USC Price is ranked #4 in the United States among "America's Best Graduate Schools" for Public Affairs, according to U.S. News & World Report.
USC Price is also ranked #9 for its graduate Urban Planning program by Planetizen's "The Top Schools For Urban Planners" (2014 Guide - Top 10 Planning Programs) in 2012.
U.S. News & World Report also ranks USC Price as:
#3 in city management and urban policy
#3 in health policy and management
#4 in public management administration
#6 in nonprofit management
#9 in social policy
USC Price currently offers:
Three doctorate programs:
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Management (Ph.D.)
Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Development (Ph.D.)
Doctor of Philosophy in Policy, Planning, and Development (Ph.D. Before Fall 2010)
Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD)
Five master's degree programs:
Master of Public Policy (MPP)
Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Master of Planning (MPL)
Master of Real Estate Development (MRED)
Master of Health Administration (MHA)
Three executive master's degrees:
Master of International Public Policy and Management (IPPAM)
Executive Master of Health Administration (EMHA)
Executive Master of Leadership (EML)
One undergraduate degree (with five available tracks):
Bachelor of Science in Policy, Planning, and DevelopmentPublic Policy and Law
Sustainable Planning
Real Estate Development
Nonprofit and Social Innovations
Health Policy and Management
Judith and John Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise
Center for Economic Development
Center for Health Financing, Policy and Management
Center for Sustainable Cities
Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy
Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration
Civic Engagement Initiative
Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)
Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy
Lusk Center for Real Estate
METRANS Transportation Center
Population Dynamics Group
Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy
Tomás Rivera Policy Institute
Marouf al-Bakhit (M.P.A. 1982), 69th Prime Minister of Jordan
Leroy D. Baca (M.P.A. 1973, D.P.A. 1993), Sheriff of Los Angeles County
Mike Davis (EML, 2010) California State Assemblyman, 48th District (2006-2012), and Commissioner of Public Works, City of Los Angeles
Vecdi Gönül (M.P.A. 1970), 62nd Minister of Defence of Turkey and Member of Parliament for Kocaeli
Matthew Harper (B.S. 1997) California State Assemblyman, 74th District, and the 59th Mayor of Huntington Beach, California (2013-2014)
Adam Herbert (B.A. 1966, M.P.A. 1968), President of Indiana University
Alan Hoffman (M.P.A. 1991) deputy chief of staff to Vice President Joseph Biden
Irene Hirano (M.P.A. 1973), President of the U.S.-Japan Council and Chair of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees
Sheila M. Kiscaden (M.P.A. 1986), Minnesota State Senator
Joyce L. Kennard (B.A. 1970, M.P.A. 1974, J.D. 1974), First Asian-American to serve as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
Tim Leslie (M.P.A. 1969), California State Senator
Dennis J. Murray (M.P.A. 1971, Ph.D. 1977), President of Marist College
Edward J. Perkins (M.P.A. 1972, Ph.D. 1976), former U.S. Ambassador to Australia, South Africa, and the United Nations
Rocky Seto (M.P.A. 2001), defensive quality control coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks
Hilda Solis (M.P.A. 1981), United States Secretary of Labor, former United States Congresswoman
Erroll Southers (M.P.A. 1998, D.P.P.D 2013), leading national expert in transportation security and counter terrorism
Karl Warkomski (M.P.A. 1995), former Mayor of Aliso Viejo, California
Michael L. Williams (B.A. 1975, M.P.A. 1979, J.D. 1979), senior commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas
Tomás Yarrington (M.P.A. 1986), former Governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico
Shinzō Abe (studied for three semesters, but dropped out in 1979), current Prime Minister of Japan
Juan José Guerra Abud. Former Secretary of Mexico at Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior Fellow and political analyst.
Dana Goldman, professor of health and economic policy and director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
Richard K. Green, professor and director of Lusk Center for Real Estate
Houston I. Flournoy, former California State Controller and former Professor of Public Administration
William Fulton (urban planner), senior fellow and mayor of Ventura, California
Daniel McFadden, USC Presidential Professor of health economics
Dowell Myers, professor of urban planning and demography and director of the Population and Dynamics Research Group center
David Petraeus, Judge Widney Professor of public policy
Arnold Schwarzenegger, professor and director of the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy
Erroll Southers, director of homegrown violent extremism studies, director of international programs for the DHS national center for risk and economic analysis of terrorism events (CREATE) and professor of homeland security and public policy.
Kevin Starr, professor of history and former California State Librarian
