--- title: 'USC Graduates Reveal Their Starting Salaries' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=buyLoryn--U' video_id: 'buyLoryn--U' date: 2026-07-14 duration_sec: 0 --- # USC Graduates Reveal Their Starting Salaries > Source: [USC Graduates Reveal Their Starting Salaries](https://youtube.com/watch?v=buyLoryn--U) ## Summary This video features street interviews with USC graduates, exploring their starting salaries, job prospects, and whether the high tuition was worth it. Responses range from six-figure offers to financial struggles, providing a realistic look at post-college outcomes. ### Key Points - **Introduction to USC Interviews** [00:00] — The host visits USC, one of the most expensive universities in the US, costing over $100,000 per year, to ask graduates about their starting salaries and if the tuition was worth it. - **Victor's Experience** [00:45] — Victor, 57, criminal justice major, works in law enforcement, says USC was worth it due to the supportive community and networking. - **Manha's Networking Success** [02:30] — Manha, 23, global media major, on scholarship, networked with professors and got access to Netflix headquarters, met George Lucas and Kevin Feige. - **John's Employee Tuition Benefit** [05:00] — John, 35, MS in project management, works at USC and gets tuition covered as an employee benefit, graduating debt-free. - **Laura's Six-Figure Job** [06:30] — Laura, 21, industrial engineering, landed a $100k job in global trade finance in New York, parents helped with tuition, no loans. - **Stunvey's MBA and M&A Role** [08:00] — Stunvey, 27, MBA from Marshall, got a $150k M&A job at American Airlines, says USC tuition not worth it without scholarship. - **Raj and Wallace's Tech Jobs** [10:00] — Raj (CS/business) got associate product manager role at Quinnbase, Wallace (CS) got software engineer at Oracle, both six figures. - **Molly's Therapy Path** [12:00] — Molly, 24, master's in applied psychology, plans to become a marriage and family therapist, parents paid tuition, GPA 4.0. - **Benson's Acting Dream** [14:00] — Benson, 21, communications and acting major, has a social media intern at $20/hr, no loans due to half-ride scholarship and parental support. - **Students with Low Bank Balances** [16:00] — Group of students (Sarah, Geronimo, Sasha) have low bank balances ($0-$46), joke that USC makes you broke, but value the experience. - **Angelina's Design Career** [18:00] — Angelina, 21, graphic design major, moving to London, no loans due to scholarship, wrote a book on ocean pollution in high school. ### Conclusion USC graduates have mixed outcomes: some land high-paying jobs and graduate debt-free, while others struggle with costs. Networking, scholarships, and parental support are key factors in making the expensive tuition worthwhile. ## Transcript Are you walking away with any student loans? Did your parents help you out? What would you say makes USC different than other universities? How much money do you have in your bank account right now? >> $746. >> 18. USC makes you broke. >> Do you have any crazy stories? >> I met George Lucas and Kevin Feige. >> Well, what's the starting salary for a position like that? >> Around 150,000. 200 an hour. >> Six figures. >> Six figures. Do you have any advice for older people who are looking to come back to college? >> I know it's scary, but some of the folks that I went through, they were very supportive. I'm very proud of them. They were awesome people and for my parents. >> Today we're at USC, one of the most expensive universities in the country, costing over $100,000 per year just to go to school. We'll be asking them what their starting salary is, how they got their job, and if the USC tuition was actually worth it. Some of these answers are going to surprise you, so stay until the end. We're interviewing USC graduates. Oh, you're busy. No worries. No. All right, no worries. We're doing a interview of USC graduates. Would you guys like to be in it? Anybody? No, you guys. No, you guys are good. All right, have a good day. This is just bad, man. Everybody's [music] rejecting me. I don't know what's going on. Let's go find some Oh, this guy right here. What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> My name is Victor. I'm 57 and it's a criminal justice. >> Criminal justice. Awesome. And how long did that degree take? >> Two years. >> Two years only. Nice. And do you have a job? [laughter] >> Maybe that's a lot of time. Do you have a job lined up after you graduate or >> I work in law enforcement already? So, I've already retired from that and I actually do work for our county now and I do something different than actual law enforcement, but very similar to >> What's the salary for a position like that? And do you guys get paid enough? >> Well, anything not just in law enforcement, but anything that puts your life in danger, whether it be firefighter, medical, or law enforcement. Of course, I don't think you ever get paid enough. It's a decent wage, but you can always say, "Yeah, I think we should get more." >> What do you think about the USC tuition? Like, was it worth it? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I mean, sure, any good school that you go to, um, they're definitely going to be, you know, uh, costly, but still, it's well worth it because the folks you meet, the folks that I'm actually here with that were in my classes with me. Very intelligent. I mean, I tease, but I honestly believe this that when I was struggling that ultimately they helped, like I said, dragged me through the mud. But I came out on the other end and I've been very fortunate. >> I love that, man. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. >> What do you wish you knew coming into college? Well, when I originally started, it was through a community college. Um, and not to say that community colleges are bad, but I think being able to sit down with a counselor and actually get more information about what I was getting involved in. So, I think a lot of times what happens is that because I was young, I was 18, and you get into college, you just kind of want to get what you want to get, but you don't know how to get it. Sometimes I think that the information that's provided to you isn't enough. it's kind of hard to kind of gauge where you're expecting to go when you really don't know where you're uh where you're at at the time. So, it helps to be able to help someone kind of like a mentor obviously that I think what that's what a count what a counselor is that can actually help you to move forward and be able to succeed. >> Do you have any advice for older people who are looking to come back to college? >> Do it. I know it's scary. It can be. You know, it took me probably about 8 years to actually jump back into it, but like I said, the folks, some of the folks that I went through this program, they were very supportive. And like I said, they dragged me through the mud and they brought me up where I was shining and I'm very proud of them. They were awesome people and for my parents. >> That's awesome, man. So, >> congratulations. >> Thank you, man. I appreciate it. >> Congratulations, dude. What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> Hi. Um, my name is Manha. I'm 23 and my major is in global media and communications. >> Do you have a job lined up after graduating? >> Not yet. I hope to soon though. >> Did you come to USC straight out of high school? >> No, I went to Amsterdam for my undergrad. Yeah. And then I did my first year of my uh masters in London and then my second year was at USC. >> Which one was the best experience that you had? >> I would say London and USC are very much tied together. USC is like the best school ever for like networking and building experiences and meeting like the perfect people to like further who you are and like further where you want to go in life. >> How did you network with professors? How did you build a relationship with them? >> Don't worry about your professors judging you or saying anything like just be very like open and honest with them and they're more than happy to help. >> USC is very expensive. Are you walking away with any like student loans? >> Thankfully not. I was on a scholarship. >> Do you have any tips for anybody who wants to get a scholarship? I got an academic scholarship. So, it was based on my undergrad grades. There's um a USC scholarship website and it basically shows you that what scholarships you're eligible for. So, definitely like look at those and I think it's in your second year of masters where you can apply for merit scholarships which are academic based. [music] So, definitely like go for that. >> How much was the scholarship for? >> My scholarship was around 20,000. >> What kind of grades do you have to have to get a scholarship? >> I'd say a 3.7 GPA minimum. Like maybe 3.6 lowest. What would you say was your best memory from college? >> One of my professors works at Netflix. >> What? >> He took me and a couple of my uh groupmates to Netflix headquarters and we got to like see like the CEOs having their meetings. We met um the leading woman for the Warner Brothers and Netflix like merger who was in charge of the entire team. >> Do you have any crazy stories from college? >> I would say like some crazy stories are definitely like at like the football games. We had one of the actors from this movie that was based on um USC football. Oh, I met George Lucas and Kevin Feige. What? >> They were here for an event for the cinematic arts. We also met John Mayer for um he was teaching like a music class. So that was also like pretty interesting. We met some people that work at Road Beauty that work at like um Patagonia. That was pretty sick. >> Yeah, cuz this is like in the heart of LA, right? So all the celebrities are here. >> Oh yeah, 100%. All the celebrities are here. You get to like experience a lot of it. Like me and my friends went to like the premiere of like the Michael movie and stuff. So it's like and being a USC student really does make a difference. >> How do you get into events like that in LA? >> There's a website. It's called One IOTA and basically you just like apply for different things. You usually you're supposed to say that you're a USC student cuz it makes a huge difference that you're applying from like a media communications and like a really like well likerounded school. And then that gives you access to like all the different talk shows, all the different premieres, fan events. It's like we went to like the Kevin Hart like um comedy fest like a few days ago. So I think that's like one thing that everyone has to do while they're here. >> Would you say college is worth it? >> I would say college is 100% worth it because if you don't know where you're going in life, it helps you take some time to figure it out, build your skills, sharpen like everything that you have to like near perfection for you. And if you do know what you want to do, well, it's it's a great experience. Like especially here in USC, in the US, it's very much like a balance between like work hard, play hard. It's not a mistake if you don't go to college, but I would recommend it. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. By the way, if you're watching this and you want your money to grow for you, consider opening up a high yield savings account. You can get up to 4% interest on your money, which is probably 400 times more than what you're getting at Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo. I'll put a link in the description to some of our favorite savings accounts. And yes, everyone who's financially savvy has one. It's one of Charlie's favorite accounts to have, and SoFi is our favorite right now. You'll get up to $400 just for opening an account with the link down below. Oh, and for those of you who want to start a business, we have a ton of free resources for you down in the description below. So, definitely check those out. Now, let's get back into the video. We're we're interviewing college students who graduated if you're okay. We're doing an interview for a YouTube channel. Does any of you guys want to be in it? No, you guys are good. Good. All right, bro. How do you get rejected by five people at one time? All right, let's go. We're interviewing USC graduates for a YouTube video. Would you like to be in it? >> Uh, sure. >> Sure. >> Awesome. We're just We're filming right here. What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> John El Hunter III, uh, 35, and MS in project management. >> Do you have a job lined up for after you graduate? >> So, I'm currently working at USC. I work over in Trojan Event Services, assisting event production and scheduling, things like that. So, I'm going to stick with that for now, but you know, who knows what the future holds. So, >> what do you wish you knew coming into college? >> How much time you really have to lay out? Like, thankfully, this is like my masters, so it's my second goound. I have a better grasp of how to like approach college, but still, you know, I have a family to take care of. I have a full-time job. So, just being able to better manage my time, which I felt like year two of the program, I got a good hold of things, but year one was a little chaotic for me to begin with, but I will say that just to prep myself at the beginning. >> The USC tuition is pretty pricey. So, would you say it was worth it? >> Definitely worth it for me. Thankfully, that I'm an employee here. They were able to take care of my uh tuition since it does uh accommodate my role currently. It does apply to that. So, it helped out. >> What would you say makes USC different than other universities? >> It's USC. It's self-explanatory. It's a it's a great university. It's so diverse here. We have amazing faculty here. It's just you learn so much and you build connections that you could take outside of this university. So, it's awesome here. >> How much student debt are you walking away with? >> Uh zero. >> Zero. >> Yeah. They took care of the uh tuition for me. So, everything worked out great. >> So, how do you land something like that, like a position like yours where people can get their tuition paid for? Honestly, if you're a USCh employee here, after a few years, I believe you're able to take on one of the perks, which is uh taking on a program here, whether it's an undergrad, masters, and as long as it's align with your position, like if it's jobreated, they'll uh take care of the tuition for you. >> And so, how did you find that position again? >> Uh they found me, honestly, they found me. >> How how did they reach out? >> I applied for a pre another position. They went with an internal client instead or internal candidate, I should say, instead. And I want to say like a month later they reached out to me for a different position that I had no idea about and they told me they recommended that I apply. I applied weeks later I was hired. So yeah. >> And where did you apply for that first position at? >> Uh it was within uh recreational sports. >> It's just an online application. >> Yeah. >> What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> My name is Laura. I'm 21 years old and I'm studying industrial and systems engineering. >> Do you have a job lined up after college? >> Yes, I do. I'm working in global trade finance in New York. >> And what's the starting salary for that job? >> I think it's 100k. How did you land your job specifically? >> I found it online. I really liked it. I learned more about it. I talked to a couple of people that worked this job and then yeah, I just studied up on what I knew and really try to sell myself as much as I could. >> What do you actually do in that position for that job? >> We work with companies with imports and exports and trying to help find contracts, you know, to be able to help lock down any currency fluctuations that may be happening. Sometimes they can't pay a company. So, that's basically the gist. Did your family help you financially with the tuition? Cuz I know it's super expensive. >> Yes, they did. I'm very fortunate for that. >> Are you walking away with any student loans? >> No, I'm not. I'm very fortunate. >> That's awesome. Do you have any advice for students? >> Put yourself out there. Don't be scared. And don't talk yourself out of things because you don't think that you're capable of. You only need someone to believe in you and usually that's yourself. So, if you believe in yourself and you really put yourself out there and expand your network and meet different people, do different things, I think that's the best way to go about my college and life, I would say. >> Would you recommend somebody goes to college and would you say it's still worth it? >> For sure. I definitely think so. It's a great opportunity and I learned a lot. >> What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> My name is Stunvey Kaladindi. I'm 27 and I just got my MBA from Marshall. >> Do you have a job lined up after you graduate? >> I do. I'm doing M&A at American Airlines. >> Whoa. What does that consist of? >> So, that consists of doing strategic deals with other companies, mostly acquisitions, to make sure American Airlines can hopefully get ahead of Delta or United one day. >> Well, what's the starting salary for a position like that? >> It would be around 150,000. >> How did you stand out in the interview process? >> So, before my MBA, I had a career in finance. So, I use that knowledge and then I also love traveling. Okay. >> And it's my passion. So, I just used things I'd already known before and did research. >> What's the tuition to go to USC? >> So, I got a scholarship, but I think it's 80,000 a year. >> 80,000 a year. And would you say that was worth it >> if I didn't get a scholarship? No. >> No. What would be your advice for somebody who wants to get a scholarship? >> Definitely try as hard as you can undergrad. And if they don't give you the scholarship you're looking for, don't be afraid to be pushy and ask for what you want and call and bother to them. >> If you could change your major, what would you change it to? Maybe if I would go back to school now, I would do something in AI cuz I think that's blowing up everywhere. Yeah, good to know. >> Do you think AI can replace your job? >> I do not think it can replace my job cuz it still hallucinates a lot and I need to check over it, but I do think it streamlines a lot of my job and can give me the opportunity to think more strategically. >> Yeah. What AI do you use? >> Everything. Chat, GBT, Claude, I've used Gamma AI to make presentations. Love, love, love AI. What makes USC stand out from all the other universities? It's very pricey. >> I definitely think the Trojan network and how warm and kind everyone is here and the opportunities you get as well as Southern California is just like a dream place to be. >> Any last piece of advice for anybody who's graduating? >> Have fun. >> Hey man, it's hard work out here. We need that water station. [music] >> All right, we ready? >> We're actually interviewing USC students who are graduate. You're good. All right, another five group of people rejecting me. I just can't make this up. I I really can't make it up, man. Why is everybody saying no to me today, dude? All right, hopefully [music] the next one. Would you be one to be in a a YouTube video? We're interviewing graduates. >> Oh, sure. >> A fire. Awesome. What's your name, age, and what are your guys' majors? >> I'm Raj Vir Singh. I'm 21 years old, and I just graduated with a computer science and business degree. >> My name is Wallace. I'm 22 years old, and I'm a computer science major. >> Do any of you guys have a job lined up after graduating? I'm working in New York at Quinnbase as a associate product manager. How did you get in touch with them? They actually have a lot of like on-ampus recruiting events. They come on like different clubs or have like things hosted in Marshall and engineering schools and so you just go to like one of these events where the recruiters are there and whatnot. They'll chat it up with you. You get the contact and whatnot and then you send the resume directly to them. I'm working as a software engineer at Oracle in Austin, Texas. I honestly just applied online and worked out. Yeah. I I didn't do anything special. >> It was through LinkedIn. >> Not through LinkedIn. It was like directly through the portal. Would you guys be willing to share what your starting salary is? >> Oh [laughter] wow. Damn. >> It's like six figures. >> Six figures. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Six fig. >> I like classic software engineer like sorry. >> Do you guys think AI is going to replace your job? And how are you preventing that? >> I don't think this is prevent like to replace our job. I think more so it's going to be like a support or like a like an ally to our jobs. Honestly, >> I would say definitely just a tool. I think it increases efficiency, but someone still needs to be behind the loop. >> What's the number one AI that you guys use? >> I'm a big cursor fan. I'm still on that to be honest. I know people are moving on to like Codeex and whatnot, but I'm still stuck on cursor. >> I really like Codex 5.5 actually. >> What about Claude? >> Oh, I don't know man. Our friends are some Claude ambassadors. They haven't got the Switch yet. We'll see you soon. >> It's expensive. It's expensive. >> Last question is, how you guys celebrating today? You guys earned it. >> Our family's over here like number one supporters here. Honestly, thank you to them. They they got me through all this and we're going to dinner after this. I'm sure like lunch plans. >> What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> My name is Molly. I'm 24. I'm graduating with my master's in applied psychology. >> Do you have a job lined up after college? >> I don't quite have one because I'm switching gears to go into marriage and family therapy. So, I'm going to go on to do more schooling for that. >> Wow. What's the average salary for somebody who goes into that? >> It completely depends on the region. Um, I think it's like I don't know 70 to 90 or something like that, but it can be more or less. It's like 200 an hour kind of. >> Did your parents help you out financially with it? >> They did. Thank goodness they did. >> What do they do for work? My dad is a film composer. >> What is that? >> He writes music for movies and TV. >> Oh, that's awesome. >> He has his own YouTube channel. I think it's just Mark Manuna Music. >> Would you go to college if you had to pay for it yourself? >> I think I would probably go to junior college and then maybe transfer or not. Depending on what you want to do, I don't think it's 100% necessary, but for some things, I think it's definitely can help you a lot. But student loans, I think, could have some reform there because can get people in a hole for their life. >> Uh, what was your GPA in college? >> I had a 4.0 or undergraduate and and and graduate. >> Any advice for people coming into college? >> Don't get discouraged if your original plans don't work out. I changed my major twice. >> Yeah. So, just kind of feel it out. See what works for you and keep your faith. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to change their major? >> If you have that feeling that you want to, that's an important feeling. Some people don't get that feeling. I felt stuck for a while, but once I had an inkling or an urge to do something, that's invaluable and you should go for it. >> And what was your favorite part about your college experience? >> I'd say the community is really important, especially here at USC. Meeting people. I think the connections I made with my professors has been invaluable. They've helped me as I look for jobs or as I apply to new programs. They've really been a great contact. >> What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> My name is Benson. I'm 21, turning 22 this year. I am a communications and dramatic arts emphasis in acting major. >> Do you have a job lined up after college? >> I have a social media intern that's coming up next Monday. So, that'll be for the summer, but after that, you know, I'll stay in LA trying to find an acting gig. Hopefully, I'll make it, you know. >> What's the starting salary for that job? It's around 20 bucks, 20 bucks an hour. >> Have you always wanted to be an actor? >> Oh, yeah. Ever since I was like 10, 11. >> How would you say the USC experience has been? Was it worth it? >> I definitely think it was worth it. Just the community it has. It's always been my dream school cuz it's known for the arts. It's really been like a dream come true for me. >> Did you come straight out of high school? >> I did. >> Did you get a scholarship? >> I did get a scholarship. I'm on the presidential scholarship, which is a half ride. Whatever the tuition is, you get half off. So, that helped me out a lot. >> Are you leaving with any student loans? >> No. >> What? Yeah. Yeah. So, did your parents help you out like financially? >> Yeah, they help me out financially. I also work on the side as well. >> What did you do for work throughout college? >> I do my own social media. I also work at like cafes, bare cruise on the side. >> Do you have any advice for anybody, you know, whose parents don't support what they want to do in college? >> Follow your heart. If they pay for your tuition, obviously you still got to listen to your parents. >> What's your name, age, and what's your guys' majors? >> Sarah, 21, industrial engineering. >> I'm Geronimo, 23, chemical engineering. I'm Sasha, 22, computational neuroscience. >> Do any of you guys have jobs lined up after you graduate? >> No. >> What would you guys say was the best experience being at USC? >> The parties. >> Definitely the frat Greek life was amazing. >> Academy. The academy. >> Do you have any crazy college stories? >> I broke into someone's house in Mexico. [laughter] >> I don't know if my parents are going to watch this, so I rather just keep it like PG. It was It was okay. I don't have a crazy story, but she broke her front all her front teeth freshman year. >> How did you break your front teeth? >> I fell. >> Was it like after a party? >> Yeah. [laughter] >> What are your guys' GPA? >> 3.7 >> 2.1 >> 4.0. >> Do you have any advice for keeping a good GPA? >> You have to find that balance and pray >> or have an easy major. [laughter] >> So, parties only on the weekend. >> No, >> the party's actually Tuesday. Tuesday to Sunday. Monday is the the school week. >> Monday is blackout Monday. So, I wouldn't say that. >> This is only a joke. We all have jobs and we love you and we've studied so hard to get to this point. >> It's all hypothetical. How much money do you guys have in your bank account right now? >> Zero. >> Literally zero. I think genuinely like $7.61. USC makes you broke. >> 46. >> 18. >> How did you guys pay for USC? >> Can we get paid for the interview? [laughter] >> What's your name, age, and what's your major? >> Hi, I'm Angelina Lion. I'm 21 and my major is graphic design. Do you have a job lined up for after you graduate? >> I do not, but I'm planning on moving to London to pursue graphic design. >> So, what's taking you to London? >> My mom lives there, so I'll be living with her. >> What's the best piece of advice that you've learned in college? >> Take advantage of every opportunity you get here and also take advantage of all the time you have being so close to your friends because a lot of my friends after graduation are moving all over the place, including me. So, take advantage of your time here because you'll miss all of them. >> USC is obviously really expensive. Would you say that it's worth the tuition? >> I would say yes. I mean, not only the experience here, but the network beyond after you graduate. It's definitely worth it. >> Are you graduating with any student loans or student debts? >> No, I'm not. I was on some scholarship here, so that really helped me out. >> How did you land a scholarship? >> Uh, I think it was grades and just extracurriculars in high school, and they kind of reached out when I applied. So, >> what kind of grades do you have to have in high school to get a scholarship? >> I don't think you have to have perfect grades. I think good grades with a combination of interesting extracurriculars that make an impact in some way is important. What were your extracurriculars in high school? >> I was a dancer and then I also wrote a book about ocean pollution. >> What? Dang, that's awesome. If you could go back, would you change your major? And if so, what would you change it to? >> Honestly, no. I think I had a really great experience and I think design can impact so many different areas of life and I think I can use it wherever. And then I minored in entrepreneurship. So, have some business experience. Worse comes to worse. >> I love that. Do you think AI will replace you eventually or do you think a college degree is still worth it? I think a college degree is still worth it if not the college experience. Even if AI is replacing art, you still need someone running it and a creative mind behind it. So, I don't think just anyone can make any good art with AI. >> Do you have any advice for making friends in college? >> Join as many organizations as you can and really put yourself out there regardless of if you're an introvert or not. People, especially the first few weeks of school, are always looking to make friends. So, you know, put yourself out there and you'll find your group. >> Today, I learned that new grads can make a lot of money if you work hard, go all in, and don't give up. That seems to be what works best for landing a high salary. All right, ladies and gents, that's it for this video. I had a ton of fun filming it. If you guys enjoyed this video, please make sure to hit that like button and subscribe for more content just like this. Thank you so much for your time. I'll see you in the next video. Peace.