Majors & Minors

The Master of Public Health/Master of Urban Planning (MPH/MUP) dual degree is designed for individuals who envision a career that combines urban planning and public health disciplines. This dual degree combines the knowledge of urban planning with an understanding of health from a population perspective. It will provide training for planning, evaluating and guiding healthy community and urban development, and will enable graduates who seek to be agents of change within the profession to assume leadership roles in planning and in public health at the local, state and national levels. The degree requires 32 MUP units and 34 MPH units for a total of 66 units required for the dual degree. 

The Master of Public Policy/Master of Urban Planning dual degree program gives students the opportunity to develop a depth of analytic and design skills with which to effectively address the problems of urban communities. The dual degree program normally requires six semesters in residence.

Requirements

Completion of the dual degree requires 72 units.

Prerequisites

All entering students must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and are required to demonstrate proficiency in foundational statistical methods. The statistics prerequisite can be satisfied in one of two ways:

Statistics or Econometrics Course Taken Prior to Enrollment in the MPP

Completion of a college-level statistics or econometrics course with a grade of "B" or better within three years of matriculation. At minimum, prior course work must have included essential topics in descriptive and inferential statistics such as measures of central tendency and dispersion, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. If relevant statistical coursework was completed more than three years prior, a waiver may be granted based on the level of statistical training completed and the degree to which currency with this material was maintained through subsequent professional use.

PPD 504 Essential Statistics for Public Management

If a student has not completed a college-level statistics course with a grade of "B" or better within three years of matriculation, they will need to complete a summer course prior to starting the MPP program. USC offers PPD 504 Essential Statistics for Public Management each summer; a grade of "C" or better in PPD 504 is sufficient to satisfy the statistics prerequisite. Students may instead choose to satisfy the requirement by completing a qualifying statistics course at another institution prior to enrolling at USC. If the course is completed outside of USC, it must be taken for a grade and the student must earn a grade of "B" or better. Regardless of which course is used to meet the prerequisite requirement, the units associated with the course will not be used toward the 72 required degree units.

Pre-semester MPP Labs

The Professional Fundamentals and Statistics/STATA Labs provide an introduction to the program, acclimate students to skills that will be further developed in their first-semester courses and help to create a genuine camaraderie within the first-year student cohort. Entering MPP students are required to participate in the Statistics/STATA Lab as well as the Professional Fundamentals Lab. The labs meet the week prior to the start of the fall semester. The Professional Fundamentals Lab will lead directly into PPD 554 Foundations of Policy Analysis, while the Statistics/STATA Lab will provide initial exposure to the statistical software that will be utilized extensively in PPD 558 Multivariate Statistical Analysis.

The Juris Doctor/Master of Real Estate Development dual degree program provides the opportunity for in-depth study of legal issues and real estate development. The increasingly regulatory environment developers work within demands that professionals in the real estate industry have a strong understanding of the legal system. Lawyers who plan to specialize in real estate law will benefit from a thorough understanding of the development process, including financial, planning, marketing and design issues. Application must be made to both the USC Gould School of Law and the USC Price School of Public Policy. This program normally requires three years (including one summer) of full-time study in residence to complete.

Requirements for completion of the dual degree program are 112 units, including 78 units in law and 34 units in planning and development. To earn the JD, all students (including dual degree students) must complete 37 numerically graded law units at USC after the first year. The associate dean may make exceptions to this rule for students enrolled in law school honors programs.

The Master of Real Estate Development/Master of Business Administration dual degree program enables students to expand their skills in planning, land development, marketing, decision sciences, accounting, management, finance and economics. The program is targeted for students who have a clear career goal of becoming real estate developers but who lack formal training in business. The program normally requires two years (including summers) of full-time study in residence to complete.

Requirements

A total of 82 units is required. Required courses include: all required courses in an MBA program; FBE 565 Economics of Urban Land Use: Feasibility Studies (3 units); FBE 588 Real Estate Law and Transactions (3 units); graduate business electives sufficient to bring the total units completed in the USC Marshall School of Business to at least 48; and Policy, Planning, and Development courses (34 units). Dual degree students may not count courses taken outside the USC Marshall School of Business toward the 48 units. Students must have an approved laptop computer as required by instructors and must demonstrate calculator and spreadsheet skills.

The emerging impact of the elderly on the health care system has created a need for health care providers who understand the unique needs of the elderly. As drug therapy remains the primary therapeutic option for chronic disease, the demand for prescription drugs will continue to rise. There is a demand for pharmacists who are equipped to meet the pharmaceutical care needs of this population. Geriatric pharmacy is recognized as a specialty, with board certification through the Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy. The PharmD/MS, Gerontology program will provide extensive education and training in the unique health care needs of older adults. It will allow student pharmacists with a career interest in geriatrics or gerontology to work with health care planning or delivery organizations to develop and implement progressive pharmaceutical care programs for the elderly.

Application and Admissions Requirements

Students who intend to pursue the dual PharmD/MSG degree must be accepted by both programs. This includes having completed a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0 and a minimum equivalent GRE score of 297. Students will not be given special consideration for admission to either program because they are applying for the dual degree. Students may apply to the dual PharmD/MS degree program in two ways. First, they may apply at the time they submit their PharmD application by concurrently submitting applications to both programs. Students, who elect this approach, must identify themselves on both applications as potential dual degree students. Students who are admitted to both programs will be offered admission to the PharmD and will be offered admission to the dual degree program. Second, students can apply to the dual degree by submitting an application to the MS in Gerontology program during their first year of enrollment in the PharmD prior to the MS, Gerontology published application deadline. Students, who elect this approach, must apply through the School of Pharmacy. Students admitted to the MS program using this approach will be offered admission to the dual degree contingent on passing all courses in their first year of the PharmD with a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. Students accepted to the dual degree program must maintain a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. in their gerontology and PharmD courses.

Recommended Program

Dual degree students may begin taking GERO courses, as available and as their schedule permits, starting in the 2nd year of the PharmD program.  Students may consult with the academic adviser for GERO course recommendations.

Graduation Requirements

Students must complete all requirements for the PharmD and MS degrees as listed in the catalogue with a minimum cumulative 3.0 G.P.A. Students must complete 32 Gerontology units as indicated. The PharmD degree course requirements are listed in the School of Pharmacy section.

The JD/MS dual degree combines the knowledge of the older population with understanding of the legal system. The program prepares graduates for a number of roles in both public and private sector organizations. Students are required to complete 112 units of course work, 76 from the law school and 36 from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. The first year is devoted to required law courses, and the second, third and fourth years combine gerontology and law courses.

Gerontology Requirements

The Master of Science in Gerontology will require 36 units of course and field work that cover the core content of the MS program.

The MS/MBA dual degree combines knowledge of the older population with the skills of business management. The program prepares graduates for a number of roles in both public and private sector organizations including the marketing of products or services to seniors, human resource development with older workers and retirement benefits.

Gerontology Requirements

The Master of Science in Gerontology requires 30 units of course and fieldwork, which covers the core content of the MS program.

The Master of Public Administration/Master of Science, Gerontology (MPA/MS) dual degree offers students interested in management of agencies and institutions the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the administrative and organizational processes and management skills necessary for the effective delivery of services to older persons.

In the MPA/MS dual degree, students spend their first year taking the required courses in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. The research course, GERO 593 Research Methods and the capstone course GERO 555 Integrating Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Approach, are taken in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. The student begins courses in the Price School of Public Policy during the second semester of the first year.

Two versions of this dual degree are available, one with a general orientation and one with an emphasis on health services administration. Students must apply to both schools and, if accepted to both, participate in a specially designed program combining course work from both schools.

Curriculum requirements for the general focus dual degree are detailed in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology section of this catalogue. Students are encouraged to seek advisement as they plan their actual programs, since curriculum changes may occur.

Return to: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology 

The dual degree in Pharmacy and Global Medicine is designed for students who are interested in providing pharmaceutical care to underserved populations around the world. Students enrolled in this dual degree program will benefit from an advanced understanding of the role of, and issues surrounding, modern medicine in developing countries.

Requirements

Students must gain admission to and fulfill the degree requirements for both programs, which include 136 units for the Doctor of Pharmacy and 24 units for the MS in Global Medicine. Six units of MEDS elective units can be used toward the PharmD elective requirement, and PHRD 503 and PHRD 504 substitute for MEDS 503 and MEDS 504.

Program Adaptation

Because MEDS 503 and MEDS 504, core requirements for the MS in Global Medicine program, cover the same material as PHRD 503 and PHRD 504, the PharmD/Global Medicine dual degree program substitutes PHRD 503 and PHRD 504 for MEDS 503 and MEDS 504 as core requirements for the dual degree.