Request Information
Fill out a brief form to learn more about the innovative online Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business and Technology from USC.
Earn Your Master’s in Integrated Design, Business and Technology Online at USC
Academics Overview
The online Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business and Technology at USC offers a uniquely integrative master’s curriculum that combines art and design, technology, business and venture management, and communication.
Graduate students will learn principles of design as the basis for creative problem-solving. The program shapes leaders with diverse ways of thinking and doing — trained to recognize and cultivate innovation, catalyze change and leverage new opportunities to not only support but also help shape and build rapidly changing industries.
Program Overview
The online Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business and Technology is a 38-unit program that can be completed in as few as 16 months. Coursework is delivered online and requires two in-person residential experiences.
16 months to complete
38 Units Total
2 Residential Experiences
No GRE/GMAT Required
Integrated Design, Business and Technology Curriculum
Our innovative curriculum is designed and taught by expert faculty with real-world experience in design, business and technology.
Core Courses (16 Units)
You will complete four core courses taught by a cross-disciplinary USC faculty team.
- Processes and Perspectives
- Opportunity and Uncertainty
- Narrative and Storytelling
- Decisions and Solutions
Integrative Project (2 Units)
Students participate in faculty-mentored projects combining elements of design, business and technology. Student teams identify a real-world problem, develop cross-disciplinary solutions and pitch their proposal in a final presentation.
Essentials (6 Units)
Essentials courses are offered in design, business and technology. You will choose two Essentials courses based on areas in which you would like to gain new or added experience:
- Design Essentials
- Business Essentials
- Technology Essentials
Residency Experiences (4 Units)
At two in-person residency experiences — Integrative Practices and Professional Practices — you will come together with classmates, professors and industry experts to explore new concepts, generate and critique work, and solve complex problems.
Electives (7 Units)
Students are required to take 7 units of electives from a continually evolving selection of options:
- Take the Integrative Project lab once or twice for either 2 or 4 units of elective credit. Teams of students may further develop their original Integrative Project or start a new one.
- Opt to take the third Essentials class (either Design, Business or Technology) for 3 units of elective credit.
- Apply to take a second Professional Practices Residential for 2 units of elective credit.
- Apply to do Directed Research with an Academy faculty member to work on a problem of your choosing, either as an individual or a member of a small group for 1 to 3 units of elective credit.
- Take a newly developed elective course. Some past examples include:
- Finance for Entrepreneurs
- Networked Objects
- The Academy periodically arranges academic trips (both domestic and international) to sites of extraordinary innovation so that students can get an insider’s view of current leading-edge work at the confluence of design, business and technology. Students typically earn 2 units of elective credit through these experiences.
Capstone Project (3 Units)
An applied project with individual and team components, the Capstone requires you to demonstrate, initiate and develop a creative idea or solution, deploying a relevant subset of tools, methods and processes learned in the program.