University of San Carlos publishes its undergraduate offering twice on the same page: once alphabetically, once grouped by school and department. Use the second version. It tells you which department will actually evaluate your application, and at USC the department chair is the person who decides whether you are accepted, advised to shift, or interviewed.
Below is the full list as USC publishes it, plus the thirteen-step admission and enrolment sequence, the fees stated in USC's own admission document, and the two places where its pages disagree with each other. Address, contacts and level flags are on the University of San Carlos - Talamban Campus profile.
Undergraduate programmes by school
School of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Design
Department of Architecture
- BS Architecture
- Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
- BS Interior Design
Department of Fine Arts
- Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising Arts
- Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Cinema
All four departments' programmes here carry an extra admission burden. See the portfolio note further down, and the BS Architecture guide for what the degree and its board exam involve.
School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History
- BA Anthropology
Department of Biology
- BS Biology
- BS Marine Biology
Department of Chemistry
- BS Chemistry
Department of Communications, Linguistics and Literature
- BA English Language Studies
- BA Literary and Cultural Studies with Creative Writing
- BA Communication major in Media
Department of Computer and Information Sciences and Mathematics
- BS Computer Science
- BS Information Systems
- BS Information Technology
- BS Data Science
Department of Philosophy
- Bachelor of Philosophy
Department of Physics
- BS Applied Physics
Department of Psychology
- BS Psychology
The four computing degrees sitting in one department is worth noticing: computer science, information systems, information technology and data science are separate CHED programme families with separate curricula, and USC runs all four out of a single unit alongside mathematics.
School of Health Care Professions
- Department of Nursing: BS Nursing
- Department of Nutrition and Dietetics: BS Nutrition and Dietetics
- Department of Pharmacy: BS Pharmacy
Three board programmes. The BS Nursing guide and the BS Pharmacy guide cover what the licensure exams behind them ask for.
School of Business and Economics
Department of Accountancy
- BS Accountancy
- BS Management Accounting
- BS Internal Auditing
Department of Business Administration
- BS Business Administration major in Financial Management
- BS Business Administration major in Human Resource Management
- BS Business Administration major in Marketing Management
- BS Business Administration major in Operations Management
- BS Entrepreneurship
Department of Economics
- BS Economics
Department of Hospitality Management
- BS Hospitality Management
- BS Tourism Management
- Diploma in Culinary Arts
On USC's page the Department of Accountancy block opens with a dangling "BS Business Administration major in:" heading with no majors listed under it, and BS Accountancy itself appears only in the alphabetical list above. Treat the Department of Accountancy as running accountancy, management accounting and internal auditing, and the Department of Business Administration as running the four BSBA majors. The Diploma in Culinary Arts is the only non-degree entry USC carries in the undergraduate list.
School of Education
Department of Teacher Education
- Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Science
- Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics
- Bachelor of Special Needs Education, specialisation in Early Childhood Education-Montessori Education
USC's teacher education line is narrow by design: two secondary majors and a special needs education programme with a Montessori specialisation. There is no BEEd on the published list.
School of Engineering
- Department of Chemical Engineering: BS Chemical Engineering
- Department of Civil Engineering: BS Civil Engineering
- Department of Computer Engineering: BS Computer Engineering
- Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering: BS Electrical Engineering, BS Electronics Engineering
- Department of Industrial Engineering: BS Industrial Engineering
- Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering: BS Mechanical Engineering
Seven engineering programmes across six departments. There is no geodetic, mining, metallurgical, sanitary or aeronautical engineering on the published list.
School of Law and Governance
Department of Political Science
- BA Political Science major in International Relations and Foreign Service
- BA Political Science major in Law and Policy Studies
The Juris Doctor is handled as a separate applicant track in USC's admission material, not as an undergraduate entry.
Two places USC's own pages disagree
The economics gap. BS Economics appears under the Department of Economics in the by-department listing but is absent from the alphabetical baccalaureate list directly above it on the same page. One of the two is out of date. If economics is your target, confirm with the School of Business and Economics that it is open for freshman intake before you build an application around it.
The programme count. USC's general information page states 43 undergraduate and 48 graduate programmes. Counting the alphabetical list, including named majors as separate entries, gets you a higher number. Neither is wrong; they are counting different things. Ignore third-party sites that assert a specific total, because they are counting a third way.
There is also something USC does not publish on the programme page at all: which campus each programme sits on. USC operates more than one campus in Cebu City, and the contact address on the site is on P. del Rosario Street. The programme listing carries no campus column. Ask the department chair where your year levels will actually be held before you commit to a place to live.
Admission: thirteen steps, two payments
USC's admission and enrolment guide for new first-year applicants is a controlled document, marked ADM-ADM-05, Revision 05, effective 18 June 2026. That is a useful signal: the document is versioned, so an older copy circulating on a forum is genuinely obsolete rather than merely stale.
Who counts as a first-year applicant. Grade 12 students graduating that school year, or senior high school graduates who have not yet enrolled in college.
Step 1, apply. Fill out the online personal data sheet and upload a certified true copy of the Grade 11 and/or Grade 12 report card, a PSA-issued birth certificate, and a recent 2x2 colour ID photo on a white background. USC notes that additional documents, including a portfolio and a personal statement, are required for Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design and Fine Arts. Applicants who already hold a USC ID number use a separate re-application page.
Step 2, pay the CAE fee. USC publishes PHP 700.00 for all undergraduate programmes, payable onsite at USC tellers, through RCBC, or through Dragonpay, with proof of payment uploaded.
Steps 3 and 4, schedule and sit the exam. After payment a scheduler link is emailed and you select a date and time. A test permit follows. Bring the permit and a valid ID to the exam.
Step 5, results. Released three days after the exam through the ISMIS admissions monitoring page.
Step 6, evaluation. The department chair evaluates the application together with the CAE result, and a confirmation of acceptance is emailed. An interview with the department chair may be scheduled. Two outcomes are covered explicitly in USC's document: applicants advised to shift to another programme, who contact the Office of Recruitment and Admissions, and applicants who choose to transfer to a different programme, who must inform the accepting department directly and then have their record updated by the admissions office.
Step 7, programme tagging. Original copies go to the Office of the University Registrar: the Grade 12 first and second semester report card with a notation on eligibility for college signed by the principal, registrar or authorised officer, the PSA birth certificate, and a recent 2x2 photo. USC states that submitting false or misleading documents may invalidate the enrolment.
Step 8, down payment. PHP 3,000.00 at USC tellers or through the ISMIS online portal, with proof of online payment emailed to the offsite collection address.
Steps 9 to 13. Online enrolment through ISMIS, then a face-to-face interview with an assigned counsellor, a medical examination at the clinic, ID picture taking with clearance from the registrar, and library ID validation before classes begin.
The two things that catch applicants out are the portfolio requirement for the design programmes, which needs weeks not days, and the counsellor interview, which sits after enrolment rather than before it and still has to be completed.
USC also publishes separate guidance for transferees, graduate students, Juris Doctor applicants and international students, each as its own dated document, and a separate enrolment guide for international students. Use the one for your category rather than the freshman version.
If you are comparing entrance exams across Cebu and Manila schools, our entrance exams compared piece sets out how the major ones differ in structure and weighting.
Accreditation and fees
USC states that the majority of its programmes are accredited by the Federation of Accrediting Associations of the Philippines as evaluated by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. It does not publish a per-programme accreditation table on the general information page, so ask the department for the current level of the specific programme you want.
USC publishes no tuition schedule. Its general information page instead directs prospective students and parents to schedule an appointment with an admission office on any campus, or with the chair of the department offering the programme, and points separately to financial assistance through scholarships, grants-in-aid and loans, including the S-V-D Scholarship. The only fee figures USC states publicly in the admission guide are the PHP 700.00 examination fee and the PHP 3,000.00 down payment.
That means any tuition number you find for USC on a comparison site is unsourced. For a sense of the range private universities in the city sit in, see our Cebu private school tuition guide, and best private schools in Cebu for how USC is positioned against its peers.
Sources
- University of San Carlos, Undergraduate Programs — https://usc.edu.ph/catholic-educational-institution-academics/undergraduate-programs
- University of San Carlos, General Information — https://usc.edu.ph/catholic-educational-institution-admission/general-information
- University of San Carlos, Apply to USC — https://usc.edu.ph/catholic-educational-institution-admission/apply-to-usc
- University of San Carlos, New First-Year Applicant admission guidelines (ADM-ADM-05, Rev. 05, effective 18 June 2026) — https://usc.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ADM-First-Year-072826.pdf
