Graduate & Professional Degrees

The Post Professional Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and the Master of Public (MPH) dual degree program offers the opportunity for physical therapy clinicians to pursue a doctoral-level education in combination with an integrated approach to health care. The program spans four years. Students begin the first one to two years completing MPH core and elective course work in the Department of Preventive Medicine. The remaining years are devoted to program requirements in physical therapy.

The Master of Real Estate Development program is a carefully integrated program that brings together the three main elements of real estate development: design, finance and policy. It is a one-year full-time or two-year evening executive program of study designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills they require to compete successfully in the development industry. The curriculum encompasses eight areas of study with which developers must be conversant, including real estate law, economics, finance, market analysis, negotiation, planning, architecture and engineering. Courses are taught by full-time faculty members from the Price School of Public Policy. In addition, practicing developers, lawyers, planners and other professionals make regular contributions to the course of study, helping students link learning to practice.

Curriculum Requirements

The program of graduate study for the professional degree requires successful completion of the core curriculum (32 units), elective courses (8 units) and a comprehensive examination. Students must complete a total of 40 units.

Core Curriculum

The core comprises lecture-seminar courses that combine lectures, projects, case analyses, and exercises which allow students to experience all facets of the developer's tasks and problems. The integrative project, RED 575, provides problem-solving exercises and the evaluation of actual development situations. Courses emphasize various design, regulatory, and fiscal problems associated with urban development and the developer's role in improving development standards in the industry.

Overview

The MA in early music is a two-year, 32-unit program consisting of course work in music history, individual instruction on a historical instrument or voice, early music ensemble and collegium workshop, culminating with a thesis.This degree is under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Students should also refer to The Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations.

Admission

Admission to Thornton programs is granted through the USC admission process. Applicants are screened by appropriate faculty selection committees. Specific entrance requirements are reviewed on an annual basis and published online at music.usc.edu.

Departmental Requirements

Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of transcripts of previous college courses, a research paper and letters of reference.

Regular (classified) standing is achieved when the Music Graduate Entrance Examinations have been completed satisfactorily. Remedial course work, if recommended, may be substituted for repetition of examinations.

Music Graduate Entrance Exams

All students entering a graduate-level degree program (MA, MM, DMA and PhD) at USC Thornton, who have not previously completed a degree at USC Thornton, must take a series of entrance exams in core music subjects. These exams are called Music Graduate Entrance Exams (MGEEs). Information regarding which exams are required for specific majors is available from the Thornton Student Affairs office. Also see the Thornton School of Music Admission to Graduate Standing section of this catalogue for specific policies relating to these exams.

Foreign Language

An academic reading knowledge of a language other than English is required of all Thornton master of arts students. This requirement can be met in any of the following ways:

• Completion of a prior degree, as verified on an official transcript, from an accredited institution of higher education at which the primary language of instruction is a language other than English.
• Completion of at least three semesters of college-level language instruction in a language other than English, as verified on an official transcript, at an accredited institution of higher education.
• Completion of one or more USC language course(s) (in a language other than English) as approved by the Thornton School.
• Earning a passing score on a written examination (in a language other than English) as approved by the Thornton School.

Departments within the Thornton School may require additional language skills. All language requirements must be fulfilled before entering the third semester in the program. Students who have engaged in extensive study of one or more languages other than English that does not meet this requirement as described above may request an exception.

Prerequisites

Applicants should have an undergraduate degree with a major in music or the equivalent, and a substantial background in languages, arts and letters.

Students interested in pursuing the East Asian Area Studies Graduate Certificate must be enrolled in an advanced degree program in the Graduate School or in a professional school at the university. While preparing for an MA, PhD or other graduate degree, they may earn a certificate in East Asian Studies, which certifies special area competence beyond discipline requirements.

Basic East Asian history and at least two years of study or the equivalent of an East Asian language are required. The student makes the basic decisions on the program to be followed in consultation with a three-member interdisciplinary committee approved by the director of the East Asian Studies Center.

For further information, interested students can email the East Asian Studies Center at easc@usc.edu.

The East Asian Studies Center offers an interdisciplinary master's degree in East Asian Area Studies. The program provides a wide range of language, cultural, social, historical, political and economic courses and faculty expertise; individual courses of study may be designed to meet both continuing academic and professional objectives. Students may concentrate primarily on one country (China, Japan, Korea) or develop region-wide expertise through a combination of course work and the thesis project.

Admission Requirements

Prerequisites

While an applicant for admission will normally have significant experience in East Asian language(s) and area studies as demonstrated through course work completed for the undergraduate degree, programs may be arranged for promising students without prior experience in East Asian studies. There is no formal language requirement for admission.

Criteria

Please refer to the EASC website for a detailed explanation of application requirements: dornsife.usc.edu/eascenter/masters.

Degree Requirements

This degree is under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degree must be courses acceptable to the Graduate School.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students must be able to demonstrate oral and written proficiency in Chinese, Korean or Japanese through the third year level (equivalent to six semesters) before the MA program is completed.

Course and Thesis Requirements

Six courses (24 units), four of which must be at the 500 level or above, plus the thesis (4 units) are required. All students must complete: (1) EASC 592; (2) EALC 531, EALC 532 or EALC 533; and (3) one other course from a Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences department. The three additional courses (12 units) may be taken from college departments or professional schools. All courses must be approved by the center director or adviser. A maximum of two courses at the 400 level may be counted toward the degree. All students must register for EASC 594a Master's Thesis  EASC 594b Master's Thesis for the thesis project.

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures offers instruction in the languages, literatures and cultures of East Asia. The graduate program offers the master's degree with specialties in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Programs of study may emphasize foreign language teaching, applied linguistics, literature, thought, religions or area studies.

Admission Requirements — Prerequisites

An applicant for admission will normally have the equivalent of an undergraduate major in East Asian languages and cultures at USC, but programs may be arranged for promising students who do not have the prerequisites. Such students may be required to make up the deficiencies.

Criteria

All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examinations verbal and quantitative General Test and submit their complete undergraduate record: at least three letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose should be sent to the chair of the department. Applicants are urged to submit written materials as supporting evidence.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Foreign Language Requirement

Competence is required in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.

Course Requirements

Six courses, four of which must be at the 500-level or above, are required. Those students whose concentration is in language and literature should take a fourth year of language.

Final Research Paper

The research paper must demonstrate the student's ability to use source materials in the East Asian language of his or her area.

Course Requirements

A student's total graduate course work must be at least 60 units including 4 units of doctoral dissertation (794ab) and the following courses:

The Master of Science in Economics and Data Science combines core economic theory and econometric methods with foundational instruction in computing skills for data science, including distributed data systems, machine learning and large-scale data processing. Course work is equally weighted between the Department of Economics in USC Dornsife and the Data Science Program at USC Viterbi. The program trains students to apply modern empirical techniques and to exploit available large data sets to carry out sophisticated economic analyses of relevance to the public, private and nonprofit sectors. At the same time, the program provides budding data scientists with the analytical power of economics to structure empirical projects. As a result, graduates of the program are equipped to participate in a wide range of professional careers.

The program requires a minimum of 32 units.

The Department of Economics will not admit outside applicants to its MA in Economics program. Enrollment in this degree program is reserved for students currently in the department's PhD in Economics program. 

If a student enrolled in the doctoral program does not already have a master's degree, the department strongly recommends that such a student work toward satisfying the degree requirements for the MA in Economics. This involves a minimum of 32 units of course work, which a student can meet while working to complete their doctorate. 

The PhD in Economics program requires students to complete a total of 60 units of graduate-level course work. The 60 units include ECON 794a and ECON 794b. Those interested in applying to the PhD program should review information concerning admission procedures and requirements within the following websites:

• USC Department of Economics
• USC Office of Graduate Admission

In addition to the course requirements listed below, students within the PhD in Economics program must also satisfy these requirements:

Core Theory Examination

Before beginning the third semester of graduate study, each student must pass a written examination in general economic theory including applications. A maximum of two attempts is allowed. Not taking the examination at a given due time is considered as failing the examination once. The core theory examination is offered twice every year during the summer session. Any exceptions are subject to approval of the Director of Doctoral Studies (DDS).

Second-Year Paper

During the summer after the fourth semester of study, each student must submit an empirical paper using quantitative methods to the examination committee. The paper may use field, experimental or simulated data. In this paper, each student should demonstrate competence in using a computer programming language and software.

Third-Year Paper and Presentation

During the summer after the sixth semester of study, each student must submit and present a research paper to a committee of faculty. The paper must be of publishable quality.

Qualifying Examination

Upon successful completion of course requirements, the second- and third-year paper requirements, and the core theory examination, each student stands for a qualifying examination that focuses on the presentation and defense of the written dissertation proposal. After passing the qualifying examination, a student is admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree. This examination must be taken no later than the end of the eighth semester of study.

Doctoral Dissertation

Following passage of the core theory examination and approval of a dissertation topic by the qualifying exam committee, each student accelerates their dissertation-focused research under the supervision of the dissertation committee. The primary requirement of the PhD is a quality dissertation that is based on a substantial amount of original research conducted.

It is also each student's responsibility to carefully follow Graduate School procedures and requirements pertaining to formal submission of their dissertation.

Master of Arts in Economics (optional)

PhD students may earn an MA degree as they progress through their doctoral studies. 

ECON 601, ECON 602, ECON 609 and ECON 611 may be substituted for ECON 500, ECON 501 and ECON 513 requirements of the MA in Economics degree. The remaining elective units may be selected from graduate-level ECON courses that the department has approved.