Communication Data Science (MS) at University of Southern California

The MS in Communication Data Science is a cross-disciplinary joint degree offered by the Viterbi School of Engineering and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. It trains students in data science for communication, combining theories of human communication with the technical foundations of social media, enterprise collaboration, virtual and augmented reality platforms, and machine learning and AI methods for analyzing large volumes of digital communication data.

Faculty: Viterbi School of Engineering and Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (joint degree)  |  Duration: 32 units minimum  |  Study mode: full-time  |  Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States

What you will study

The 32-unit curriculum has a 20-unit Foundations block (DSCI 510, DSCI 549, DSCI 550, COMM 502 and one of COMM 557, 586 or 587), a Data Science Core course, two Communication Core courses (for example CMGT 510 Communication and Persuasion or CMGT 564 Big Data in Communication) and a 0-unit practicum. Students with programming knowledge may test out of DSCI 510. All Annenberg master's students complete the non-credit MCDO program.

Career pathways

Graduates work in news and media organizations, marketing and communication roles at technology companies, and data science roles analyzing online activity on entertainment sites, games and mobile apps, including recommender systems, opinion mining and information diffusion.

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