After 17 years at the Claremont Graduate University, the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute is moving to USC.

The nation's oldest think tank for Latino issues is moving to USC's School for Policy, Planning and Development and will officially open there in the fall.

"USC made an offer we could not refuse,' said Harry Pachon, the institute's president. "They are able to give us more space, more resources and the opportunity to leverage the resources of a major university.'

The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute is researching such topics as Latino voter turnout, Internet use and farm worker health, according to its Web site.

The move will put the institute closer to media outlets that can cover the work and the policy papers that the institute puts out, Pachon said.

"What is the point of writing a paper about policy that does not get covered?' he said.

But amid all the excitement, leaving Claremont Graduate University is a bittersweet moment, Pachon said.

"CGU was the birthplace of TRPI,' he said. "CGU has been a great home for us, but sometimes the bird must fly from the nest.'

Steadman Upham, president of Claremont Graduate University, said the college is sad to see the institute leave, but had been expecting this for some time. This is not the first offer USC had made to the Institute.

"The graduate university has worked hard to retain TRPI,' Upham said. "We did not counter this last offer, but we countered their past two offers very generously.'

Dan Mazmanian, dean of USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development, said the agendas of the institute and the school are extremely similar and will compliment each other.

"I think this is quite exciting for our research and our service in the community,' Mazmanian said. "But for students who want to serve in urban areas and research the diverse interests in our community, this is just wonderful.'

With the knowledge that Claremont was going to lose the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, about 10 months ago the faculty of the department of Politics and Policy started the California Policy Institute, which will focus of issues that directly affect the state and its residents.

"We are very excited about this new endeavor,' Upham said. "The institute will have a wider range of issues to work on. They are poised to do some important work.'

USC plans to hire two faculty members, who will be given research time to work with the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. It also will subsidize the institute with a five-year transition grant, Pachon said.