Graduate & Professional Degrees

Gerontology Center 240
(213) 740-4893

Program Director: Paul Lu

This program is designed primarily, but not exclusively, for graduate engineers whose career objectives lead to increasing technical management responsibilities. Students interested in the engineering management objectives may also want to consider the MS, Industrial and Systems Engineering/MBA dual degree program.

Master of Science in Engineering Management

A total of 28 units is required for the degree. A minimum of 16 units must be taken in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. A total of 20 units must be at the 500 level or above. The program is available via distance education.

Applicants to the program are expected to have a degree in engineering or the equivalent.

Application deadline: December 1

Students may earn the PhD in English by successfully completing a common set of requirements while pursuing individual interests. The program prepares students for research and teaching in all areas of literary and cultural study.

All students must complete ENGL 501 in the first semester and take two-thirds of their total seminar units in the English Department. Research may address any aspect of literature in English, including cultural and media studies; race and gender studies; Early Modern literature; Postcolonial Literatures; and aesthetic theory, among others.

Graduate Curriculum and Unit Requirements

The curriculum is divided into 500-level foundation courses and 600-level advanced courses. The 500-level courses offer fundamental work in theory and literary history. The 600-level courses feature advanced studies in theory, core requirements in film and literature, interdisciplinary studies, transhistorical studies in genres and sub-genres, individual writers, gender studies, multicultural literatures and societies, and special topics. Although students will normally take 500-level courses before the screening procedure (see Screening Procedure) and 600-level courses thereafter, they may, after consultation with their advisers, be permitted to take 600-level courses in the first semesters of their graduate training.

Occasionally students who lack adequate undergraduate training in any given area may be required by the graduate director to enroll in appropriate 400-level courses.

The student's course work must total at least 64 units. No more than 8 units of 794 Doctoral Dissertation and no more than 4 units of 790 Research may count toward the 64 units. A maximum of 12 transfer units, approved by the graduate director, is allowed toward the 64 units minimum required by the PhD. (See Transfer of Credit.)

Advisement

The student will be assigned a faculty mentor in the first semester of the graduate program and will be encouraged in subsequent semesters to begin putting together an informal qualifying exam committee. The makeup of the qualifying exam committee may change as the interests of the student change. The faculty mentor and informal qualifying exam committee will assist the student in planning a program of study appropriate to the student's interests leading to the screening procedure.

Screening Procedure

In the semester immediately following the completion of 20 units of courses, the students will be screened. Passing this procedure is prerequisite to continuation in the doctoral program. The faculty mentor will write a report summarizing the student's course work, grades and instructor comments. The graduate studies committee will consider the student's record and determine if he or she is qualified to go on to the PhD. On successful completion of screening, the student may apply for the transfer of graduate credit from other institutions, up to a maximum of 12 units.

Qualifying Exam Committee

Immediately following successful completion of the screening procedure, the student will begin forming a five-member qualifying exam committee, including a chair and three other members from the English Department who are in the student's areas of interest and an outside member from another PhD-granting department. The committee must be in place and approved by the Graduate School at the time the student chooses a dissertation topic, writes the dissertation prospectus and schedules a qualifying examination.

Field Examinations

In the semester following the completion of courses, and before submission of the dissertation prospectus, the student must take the field examinations. These are take-home essays in three broad fields preparatory to the dissertation. The fields are chosen and the questions developed by the student in consultation with a committee of three examiners chosen by the student. The field examinations may be repeated once in the semester immediately following an unsuccessful attempt. The committee may ask the student to retake one, two or all three fields.

Qualifying Examination

Following completion of course work and the field examinations, the student must sit for a qualifying examination, at a time mutually agreed upon by the student and the qualifying exam committee. This is an examination given in the subject of the student's proposed dissertation research. No less than one month before the qualifying examination, the student will submit to the qualifying exam committee a dissertation prospectus. The prospectus, it is understood, will not be a polished book proposal, but at a minimum it should display a strong knowledge of the subject; survey relevant secondary material and other contexts crucial to the dissertation; and present a workable plan of attack as well as a reasonably sophisticated understanding of the theoretical assumptions involved in the subject.

The qualifying examination will consist of both written and oral portions. It will focus on the dissertation area and its contexts with the specific format and content of the examination being negotiated among the student and all members of the examination committee. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student proceeds to the writing of the doctoral dissertation.

Dissertation

The final stage of the program is the submission of a book-length dissertation that makes an original and substantial contribution to its field of study. Dissertations being written in the department are now richly varied, and this diversity is encouraged.

Foreign Language

PhD students are required to demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language. This may be demonstrated by completing a course in the literature of that language at the 400 or 500 level (with a grade of B [3.0] or better), or by passing a foreign language exam that tests proficiency in reading comprehension and translation. PhD students may also be required to demonstrate proficiency in additional languages, as determined by the qualifying exam committee in view of the student's proposed field of research.

The department does not accept applicants for a Master of Arts degree. All graduate work in English at USC is taken as part of a PhD program, and the MA in English is intended only as a transitional degree in the process of completing requirements for the PhD

A student admitted to the graduate program may choose later to earn a terminal MA degree, or may be invited by the department to attempt a terminal degree. The terminal MA in English may be earned by completing 30 units (normally eight courses) of graduate study in English or in other departments at USC (as approved by the graduate director) with an accumulated GPA of at least 3.0, and by passing the screening procedure. A maximum of 4 units of 590 Directed Research and 4 transfer units may count toward the 30 units minimum required for the MA degree.

The Master of Education in Enrollment Management and Policy will focus on the preparation of graduates to assume positions within the field of enrollment management at two- and four-year postsecondary educational institutions, at professional graduate school programs, and at private preparatory schools. Our focus is on preparing candidates for both early to mid-career positions as well as for leadership positions within enrollment management organizations. The program consists of 30 units taught over 23 months and is delivered primarily on-line but with convergence seminars, thus this will be a hybrid program. The curriculum will cover a range of subjects including exploration of admissions models, legal issues in admissions and financial aid, institutional and public policy issues in student financial aid, theories and models of student retention, marketing, and enrollment management research. The final capstone experience will ask students to prepare a five-year strategic enrollment management plan. Students will develop a plan for the institution at which they are currently employed or a university or school selected with the assistance from faculty in the program.

Earning the online Entertainment Law and Industry certificate requires successful completion of 12 credit units, including the following courses:

The Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is designed to develop the entrepreneurial knowledge, skill sets and decision-making frameworks required to recognize and evaluate business opportunities and to create and guide a new entrepreneurial entity either individually or within a larger organization. The curriculum focuses on topics such as entrepreneurial decision-making, business model formulation, feasibility analysis, leading innovation and change, and how to access and deploy capital and other resources for the successful launch of a new venture. The degree can be completed on either a full- or part-time basis, and classes are offered primarily at night to accommodate the needs of working professionals.

Admission Requirements

To qualify for admission to the MSEI program, prospective students must hold a four-year bachelor's degree, or equivalent. Applicants in the process of finishing an undergraduate degree may apply, with acceptance contingent on finishing the undergraduate degree. Admission decisions are based on consideration of the applicant's previous academic record, résumé, letters of recommendation and responses to several essay questions. Full-time work experience is encouraged but not required. International applicants are required to submit TOEFL, IELTS or PTE scores. This requirement is waived for students who have completed their entire bachelor's degree program at a regionally accredited university located in the United States or officially recognized university in another country where English is both the language of instruction and the only officially recognized language of the country. Proof of financial support is required of admitted international applicants.

Application Procedure

Applications are accepted for fall semester enrollment only. Submit an online application to the program through the USC admissions website here. 

A complete application includes the online application form, test scores for international applicants, responses to several questions, an application fee, two letters of recommendation and copies of transcripts from all institutions attended.

• Current USC students and USC alumni are not required to submit an application fee or transcripts to verify degrees earned prior to their attendance at USC.
• All other applicants must submit all documentation identified in the online application instructions.

For additional detailed information visit marshall.usc.edu/MSEI or write to MS.EI@marshall.usc.edu or call (213) 821-0877.

The Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program is open to students who have completed an undergraduate degree in any field. Students without a prior degree in occupational therapy take both the foundational courses and the core courses listed below. Students who have earned a bachelor of science (BS) in Occupational Therapy from USC may apply for Advanced Standing and follow the curriculum outlined under Required Courses for students with Advanced Standing in the USC Bachelor to Doctorate Program, reducing the total units required for the degree from 97 units to 67 units.

datascience.usc.edu

Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Environmental Studies
Viterbi School of Engineering, Computer Science/Data Science

Program Director (Data Science): Yolanda Gil, PhD
Program Co-Director (Environmental Studies): John Heidelberg, PhD

A minimum of 32 units with an overall cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 is required. Students can complete the degree in either three or four semesters, depending on whether they take courses in the summer.

The proposed curriculum relies on existing courses currently taught at USC. The degree will consist of a set of required core and elective courses in both data science and course related to environmental studies. On the data science side, students will learn about artificial intelligence (particularly machine learning and semantic data models), data management, privacy, and data visualization. Courses in environmental studies will provide a foundation in natural resource dynamics and management, as well as today's most pressing environmental challenges. Courses in environmental studies will provide a foundation in natural resource dynamics and management, as well as today's most pressing environmental challenges. Capstone courses based on real-world projects will enable students to acquire practical experience applying data science to address particular environmental problems of interest.

Students with requisite programming knowledge are allowed to test out of DSCI 510. An entrance exam will be held at three time periods: two weeks before the start of the semester, one week before the start of the semester, and during the first week of the semester. Students who pass the exam will be allowed to skip DSCI 510, and may replace that with an elective.

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

Students with a bachelor's degree in engineering or science may work toward the Master of Science in Environmental Engineering. Students with degrees in fields other than engineering or science may be admitted on the recommendation of a program adviser and program director. Selection of courses will be determined through consultation with a program adviser to provide a maximum of training in the student's area of interest in environmental problems.

The Master of Science in Environmental Engineering requires a minimum of 28 units.

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