EDIT

BS Business of Innovation (BUIN)

BS Business of Innovation

BUIN

BS Business of Innovation (BUIN) is a joint degree offered in partnership with the USC Marshall School of Business and the USC Iovine and Young Academy (IYA). The program is designed to build expertise at the intersection of human-centered design, technology, and business innovation, merging IYA’s integrated challenge-based learning framework with Marshall’s comprehensive business education to prepare students to be leaders at the cutting-edge of innovation.

APPLY TODAY

Program Benefits

The Business of Innovation degree is a collaboration between the Marshall School and the Iovine and Young Academy, bringing together expertise from both schools to create a unique and comprehensive educational experience encompassing leadership, technology, and experiential learning
This program combines Marshall’s rigorous business education, including entrepreneurship training from our Greif Center, with creative and innovative approaches from the Iovine and Young Academy.
Unlike double majors or existing minors, joint degrees offer a seamlessly integrated curriculum that equally emphasizes disciplines across two schools, providing a cohesive educational experience.
From prototyping, interactive computing, and product design to finance, economics, data analysis, and strategic management, the collaboration between Marshall’s core strengths in business and leadership and IYA’s unique learning framework (known as Challenge-Based Reflective Learning) will equip students with essential knowledge, skills, and a powerful mindset that encourages thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries, synthesizing diverse ideas, and creating new technologies, ventures, and humane solutions for purpose-driven change.
Business of Innovation students will have access to IYA’s state-of-the-art prototyping facilities which includes fabrication labs, 3D printing, laser cutters, computer graphics and AI labs, and a mixed reality studio. Students will also have access to significant resources offered through the LLOYD GREIF CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES at USC Marshall.

21st Century Leadership

“Most degree programs in this space focus solely on technical know-how or business expertise, but we combine the two into something better.”

— Charlie Hannigan, Academic Director, AI for Business Program

ACADEMIC OVERVIEW

- Introduction to Financial Accounting
- Introduction to Managerial Accounting
- Communication Strategy in Business
- Organizational Behavior and Leadership
- Business Finance
- Marketing Fundamentals
- Applied Business Statistics or Statistics and Data science for Business
- Operations Management or Advanced Operations Management and Analytics
- Introduction to Business Analytics
- Microeconomics for Business
- Macroeconomics for Business
- Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship or The Management of New Enterprises

Through the Academy’s core, students will develop a powerful mindset to analyze challenges, think across knowledge domains and synthesize diverse ideas to create new technologies, ventures and human solutions for purpose-driven change. All students will have the opportunity to develop interactive computing skills as well as product design, modeling and prototyping skills.

Design Core (8 Units)
Rapid Visualization
The Practice of Design: Ideation to Innovation

Technology Core (12 Units)
Designing Interactive Data Systems
8 Units of coursework from the following courses:
Introduction to Machine Intelligence
Introduction to Interactive Physical Computing
Dev I
Dev II
Devices and Systems for Body Computing
Extended Reality Development
Transformative Artificial Intelligence in Society

Design Strategy Core (16 Units)
Innovators Forum
Design Strategy: Problem Solving for Organizations
The Garage Experience

Academy Electives
8 units of coursework from within the following Academy elective areas:
Extended Reality
Interactive Technologies and Physical Computing
Design Strategy
Health Innovation
Product Innovation
Transformative AI

In addition to the core curriculums and Integrative Business courses, students mus complete USC’s General Education course which provide a comprehensive introduction to the breadth of knowledge required to be a well-educated person in the 21st century. Several courses required for the Business of Innovation Bachelor of Science degree may also be counted toward General Education Core Literacies and Global Perspective categories. For more information about the general education requirements, please visit the USC General Catalogue.

Business of Innovation graduates will be future-forward entrepreneurs and leaders, ready to transform ideas into marketable products, or more importantly, scalable and sustainable solutions for global challenges.

— GEOFFREY GARRETT, USC MARSHALL DEAN

APPLYING TO THE PROGRAM

DATES + DEADLINES

See all undergraduate application dates and deadlines HERE.
FIRST-YEAR INFO SESSIONS

Virtual Information Sessions designed for high school juniors / seniors / families for a comprehensive overview of Marshall are on Wednesdays at 11:00A and 3:00P PT.
REGISTER HERE
CAMPUS TOURS

Learn about USC On-Campus Tours HERE. Student-Led, Self-Guided, and Virtual Tours are all available.
INFORMATION FOR ADMITTED STUDENTS

Register for an online session through the USC PORTAL. If you have any questions about attending an event, you can always reach out to the Undergraduate Admission office directly: EMAIL

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Undergraduate Marshall Recognized Student Organizations (MRSOs) provide students with the opportunity to engage with peers, faculty, alumni, and employers who provide guidance in areas such as academic coursework, leadership development, and professional pursuits. MRSOs are a key component of the Marshall undergraduate experience and offer a range of opportunities for leadership and career development, philanthropic pursuits, and social events for their members and the Marshall community. MRSOs have access to exclusive RESOURCES and support from the Undergraduate Advising and Student Affairs office.

ALL STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

NEWS + INSIGHTS

Marshall Faculty Publications, Awards, and Honors: September 2026

We are proud to highlight the many accomplishments of Marshall’s exceptional faculty recognized for recently accepted and published research and achievements in their field.

MORE Marshall Faculty Publications, Awards, and Honors: September 2026
A Week in the Life of a Marshall MBA Student

From class to tailgating, second-year MBA student Maddie Gissler describes her typical week at the USC Marshall School of Business

MORE A Week in the Life of a Marshall MBA Student
Interview: Nathanael Fast and Ravi Iyer in USC Today

Citing their research, Fast and Iyer explain that teens face different types of harm depending on the social media platform.

GO TO ARTICLE Interview: Nathanael Fast and Ravi Iyer in USC Today
What Makes a Product ‘Cool’?

Research from USC Marshall decodes how a product becomes “cool” — and why the qualities that work in Ohio may flop in Shanghai.

MORE What Makes a Product ‘Cool’?
Quoted: John Matsusaka in Flatwater Free Press

In light of Nebraska’s proposed restrictions on ballot measure petitioning, Matsusaka explains that it’s hard to tell whether these proposals are about the integrity of the process or are convenient attempts to stop certain ballot measures.

GO TO ARTICLE Quoted: John Matsusaka in Flatwater Free Press