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Dr. Dre Boasts About Daughter’s USC Admission, Internet Digs Up Evidence of $70M Donation a Few Years Ago

By Kate Hudson | Celebrity | March 24, 2019 |

By Kate Hudson | Celebrity | March 24, 2019 |


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Now, friends, I’m not saying one had anything to do with the other, but…Dr Dre’s daughter is going to USC! Congrats! On a completely unrelated noted, Dr. Dre, along with Jimmy Iovine gave USC $70 million in 2013. I’ll let People.com explain:

Dr. Dre (né Andre Young), who along with fellow music mogul Jimmy Iovine gave $70 million to USC in 2013 to establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

In short, Dre’s daughter did it the old-fashioned way. Take that Aunt Becky!

The young woman, whom I won’t name because she’s a civilian and we don’t need to pile on her, because I’d absolutely do the same in her place, is going to go to USC’s film school. It’s a pretty good program. I had a few friends get admitted to it, but ultimately didn’t go because tuition is extremely expensive at USC. Which brings me to my next point. USC is colloquially known as the University of Spoiled Children, at least in LA. What’s my point other than letting you know that I know a nickname that would undoubtedly make me look like a real dweeb if I busted it out in front of a youth? Mainly that the system is working, everyone!

Rich man donates money to school, man’s daughter is admitted to it on her own merits a few years later completely unrelatedly, tuition is paid by rich man saving an underprivileged student the hassle of figuring out how they will pay for tuition, which was $55,320 for the 2018-2019 school year. (Fun fact, on the USC financial aid page, the real cost of one year of USC costs about $75,275. Relatedly, my first job out of college in 2006, which required a college degree, paid me $28,000 a year plus “benefits”! Narrator’s voice: the benefits sucked.)

Look, the media needs more voices, and I think a woman of color going to the USC film school is a great way to get some diversity of perspective in our media. However, when one of the preeminent film schools in the country has such a cost-prohibitive fee structure to attend (if you even get in, because there are a lot of rich people donating s*it in LA) you don’t have the opportunity to find your voice creatively once you get out, because those student loans are going to be financially crippling to pay back and you gotta start making money ASAP. So what ends up happening, in the limited experience of my social circle is, you go to a lesser program without the connections USC affords, and you try to make your own way. Meaning that the people who do get the USC connections are people from privileged backgrounds. They get the jobs in Hollywood, and it’s their stories and perspectives that get told. Them’s the breaks, kid!

Obviously, this isn’t true for everyone, but all I can say is ask yourself: Who can afford $75k a year for an undergrad degree (especially in a field where the odds are stacked against you)? Because according to USC’s financial aid page, only 1 in 5 students get merit scholarships.

The system is working exactly as it was designed to. The system just sucks. Eat the rich!

Since that’s a depressing thing to end a weekend article on, I’ll leave you with this fun fact: a group of hedgehogs is called a prickle.



Header Image Source: Getty