Graduate & Professional Degrees

The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Engineering are in strict conformity with the requirements of the Graduate School. Program requirements for the PhD in Computer Engineering are the same as those for the PhD in Electrical Engineering except that the major field is computer engineering. See general requirements for graduate degrees.

Screening and qualifying examinations are administered by the computer engineering faculty. Students should contact the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Offices for further information.

This program will provide students with rigorous training with theories and applications of deep learning and artificial intelligence, such as machine learning, statistics, computer vision, natural language processing, and robotics. 

Grade point average requirements are the same as for the Master of Science Computer Science degree. 

In addition to the general requirements of the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence is also subject to the following requirements.     

A minimum of 32 units, selected from the courses below, is required. Units to be transferred (maximum 4 with adviser approval) must have been taken prior to taking classes at USC – interruption of residency is not allowed. Curricular Practical Training units do not count toward the 32 required units.   

For Admission Requirements, refer to Viterbi Graduate Degrees and Requirements.

The Master of Science in Computer Science (Data Science) provides students with a core background in computer science and specialized algorithmic, statistical and systems expertise in acquiring, storing, accessing, analyzing and visualizing large, heterogeneous and real-time data associated with diverse real-world domains including energy, the environment, health, media, medicine and transportation.

The Master of Science in Computer Science Dual Degree with Tsinghua University School of Information Science and Technology – China (THU) leads to two Master of Science degrees in Computer Science, one from each institution. The dual degrees are subject to the following stipulations:

1. All required courses for each degree are required for the dual degree.
2. The program description for the Tsinghua University Master of Science in Computer Science and Technology is online at http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/csen/4906/index.html.
3. The general requirements for the MS in Computer Science at USC in this dual degree program are the same as those for the USC general MS in Computer Science without a thesis, except that at least 19 units (of the minimum total of 28) must be completed at USC, and 9 units of pre-approved course work transferred from THU may be counted toward the degree requirements at USC. This is due to:

• a special partnership in this area established by a Memorandum of Understanding at the University level to amplify cooperation between USC and THU and between the United States and China in an intellectual and economic arena of great importance to both, where many shared interests exist;
• the similarity of the USC and THU curricula, which allows expanded course substitution due to interchangeable content;
• the desirability of providing students with a wider array of relevant courses than they can get at either institution;
• the opportunity to provide students a unique transcultural experience that will position them to be global leaders in their field.

4. The two MS degrees must be earned at the same time, generally at the end of two and one-half to three years of study. The THU degree requirements must be completed for students to receive the USC MS in Computer Science as part of the dual degree program.
5. Students who elect to receive only the USC degree must change their degree objective from the USCTsinghua University dual degree to a different MS degree objective in Computer Science. In this case they will be allowed to transfer only the standard 4 adviser-approved units from Tsinghua University toward the USC degree.
6. The following required courses must generally be taken at USC: CSCI 570 and one course from each of the following two categories: I. CSCI 551, CSCI 555, CSCI 571, CSCI 577a, CSCI 585, EE 557; II. CSCI 545, CSCI 561, CSCI 564, CSCI 574, CSCI 580, CSCI 582. There must be justification for the omission of a required course in either degree, for example a certain course in one degree may provide comparable content to the omitted course in the other degree.
7. The USC Computer Science Department has identified a list of transferrable THU courses that can be considered USC equivalents but is also willing to entertain transfer, on a case by case basis, of unique THU CSCI courses for which no obvious mapping to a USC CSCI course exists.
8. Courses taken at Tsinghua University by students sent from USC will be taught in English.
9. Other requirements for the Master of Science in Computer Science are the same as set forth in the general requirements for Viterbi School of Engineering Master of Science degrees.

Students graduating from this program will be capable of engineering next generation games and simulations and their required technologies immediately upon graduation in the entertainment and serious game fields. Additionally, graduates from this program will be able to further their education in graduate programs in game development and computer science. The long-term goal with this MS degree is to establish research and development directions that create a science of games and an accompanying archival literature that improves game development for both serious and entertainment purposes.

Students must satisfy all requirements for the Master of Science degree in Computer Science. Applicants to this program must meet the admissions standards of the Viterbi School of Engineering.

The Department of Computer Science offers a Master of Science in Computer Science as well as multiple emphases within the discipline. The degree can be completed with or without a thesis.  

Requirements for Graduation without a Thesis

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be earned on all course work applied toward the master's degree in computer science. This average must also be earned on all graduate courses completed at USC (400-level and above). Transfer units count as credit (CR) toward the master's degree and are not computed in the grade point average. Total units required for the degree is 32. No examination is required for the degree. Other requirements for the Master of Science in Computer Science are the same as set forth in the general requirements for Viterbi School of Engineering master's degrees.

The Doctor of Philosophy with a major in computer science is awarded in strict conformity with the general requirements of the USC Graduate School. See Requirements for Graduation. Departmental requirements for this degree consist of a concentrated program of study and research and a dissertation. Consult a separately published guide, available from the department office and Website, for more information concerning course requirements, the screening procedure, the teaching requirement, the qualifying examination, the thesis proposal and other requirements.

Course Requirements

Each student is required to complete two semesters of CSCI 697 (1 unit each, 2 maximum) and CSCI 670 (4 units). In addition, students are required to pass two semesters of CSCI 698 (1-2 units each, no maximum) as part of a teaching requirement.

Elective courses: In addition to the mandatory courses, each student must complete five CSCI courses at the 500 level and above, 4 units each. No more than two of these courses (8 units total) may be at the 500 level; the remaining must be CSCI courses at the 600 level. Directed Research units or thesis credits do not satisfy this requirement. Students are strongly advised to take at least one of their elective courses in an area of computer science that is different from their proposed area of research. The PhD adviser is expected to provide guidance on this matter to the student.

The CSCI 670 course requirement may be waived by examination only. Each course in the department has a faculty member who is designated as the course "owner." The owner of CSCI 670 is in charge of creating and grading the waiver examination. CSCI 697 and CSCI 698 may not be waived.

Designed for students with engineering or science bachelor's degree but limited background in computer science, this comprehensive, two-year, 37-unit program combines an introductory sequence of undergraduate preparatory and foundational course work with all the graduate breadth requirements necessary to satisfy the traditional master's degree. 

Note: The preparatory programming requirement and foundational requirements must be completed at USC and cannot be transferred in or waived. Applicants to this program must meet the admissions standards of the Viterbi School of Engineering.

Students possessing a bachelor's degree and with sufficient training in capital management and statistics may pursue the Master of Construction Management. The purpose of the Master of Construction Management program is to educate and train multidisciplinary professionals to understand and execute the broad array of technical and non-technical activities associated with construction management. The program provides special attention to the function of the constructor in real estate development.

Applicants to the program are expected to have completed undergraduate course work in engineering economy or business finance.

For admission requirements, refer to Viterbi Graduate Degrees and Requirements at USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The normal time required for earning the Master of Construction Management is four semesters. Students are expected to participate in extracurricular activities associated with the Master of Construction Management program, including the speaker series and field trips. A candidate must complete the last 4 semester units of course work at USC.