Completion of the Master of Management Studies degree requires a minimum of 26 graduate units for all candidates — up to 24 units of course work and 2-5 units of Field Research (592), Independent Research (593), or Consulting Project (597).

Master of Management Studies applicants are urged to consider areas of specialization available to Marshall graduate students published at www.marshall.usc.edu/ecg. The applicant is asked to identify areas of interest as part of the application process, but is free to choose coursework from the full range of graduate electives available to Marshall M.B.A. students, subject to prerequisite requirements. Access the USC Schedule of Classes at http://www.usc.edu/soc for recent and current class schedules.

An evaluation of work previously completed determines if specific content areas are missing. If it is determined that preliminary courses are needed and are available at USC Marshall, the number of units needed to complete the Master of Management Studies degree will increase. (Please see the FAQ page for details.)

None of the GSBA-prefixed classes required for completion of a Marshall M.B.A. program may be applied toward the Master of Management Studies unless they are required to update prior work and are added to the 26-unit total.

No courses numbered lower than 500 may be included in this program. Students may apply to the M.M.S. up to 8 units of business-related coursework from other USC programs, subject to approval by the M.M.S. program director. (Marshall courses begin with the prefixes ACCT, BAEP, BUCO, GSBA, FBE, IOM, MKT, and MOR.) No coursework completed prior to matriculation in the M.M.S. program can be applied toward the Master of Management Studies. (The M.M.S. degree is intended to provide those who have completed coursework at another institution with an opportunity to expand their knowledge base in areas not covered during their prior studies.)

A minimum of two units of Field Research (592), Independent Research (593), or Consulting Project (597) must be included in the proposed program. The project is intended to provide a capstone experience culminating in a report in the area of specialization. The project will be conducted under the direction of an individual faculty member from the department offering the student’s area of specialization.

For additional information contact Management.Studies@marshall.usc.edu or call (213) 740-0671.