USC on track to close deficit, Kim says
Tomo Chien
February 10, 2026
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
President Beong-Soo Kim told a crowd at the Health Sciences Campus yesterday that USC is on track to generate a roughly $30 million operating surplus this fiscal year. Kim will deliver a similar State of the University address at Bovard Auditorium today at 8:30 a.m., which you can watch virtually or RSVP to if you’re reading this early.
2.
Student government candidates will take the stage today in a 7 p.m. debate at the TCC Forum. The event, unfortunately, doesn’t seem liable to include F-bomb-laden tirades like last year’s, but if you’re still interested in attending, you can submit questions here.
3.
USC will allow applicants to apply under an “early decision” program, aligning its admissions policies with those of many selective U.S. universities. The admissions option — which theoretically requires students to attend the school if accepted (but not really) — was piloted by USC’s business school last admissions cycle.
4.
A judge struck down a California law that banned federal immigration agents from wearing masks, saying the legislation, which did not apply to California police, unlawfully discriminated against federal officers. The bill’s author plans to refile a new ban that would apply to all law enforcement officers.
5.
Nithya Raman’s entry into the LA mayoral race has already electrified this year’s election. Case in point: The California Post has gone all-in on “Red Raman” fever, declaring the star progressive a “radical” and “master manipulator” who’s going to close all the jails, come after your golf courses, and drag us back to the “Marxist 19th century.”
