Master of Science in Computer Science Dual Degree with Tsinghua University School of Information Science and Technology – China

Return to: USC Viterbi School of Engineering  

The Master of Science in Computer Science Dual Degree with Tsinghua University School of Information Science and Technology – China (THU) leads to two Master of Science degrees in Computer Science, one from each institution. The dual degrees are subject to the following stipulations:

1. All required courses for each degree are required for the dual degree.
2. The program description for the Tsinghua University Master of Science in Computer Science and Technology is online at http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/csen/4906/index.html.
3. The general requirements for the MS in Computer Science at USC in this dual degree program are the same as those for the USC general MS in Computer Science without a thesis, except that at least 19 units (of the minimum total of 28) must be completed at USC, and 9 units of pre-approved course work transferred from THU may be counted toward the degree requirements at USC. This is due to:

• a special partnership in this area established by a Memorandum of Understanding at the University level to amplify cooperation between USC and THU and between the United States and China in an intellectual and economic arena of great importance to both, where many shared interests exist;
• the similarity of the USC and THU curricula, which allows expanded course substitution due to interchangeable content;
• the desirability of providing students with a wider array of relevant courses than they can get at either institution;
• the opportunity to provide students a unique transcultural experience that will position them to be global leaders in their field.

4. The two MS degrees must be earned at the same time, generally at the end of two and one-half to three years of study. The THU degree requirements must be completed for students to receive the USC MS in Computer Science as part of the dual degree program.
5. Students who elect to receive only the USC degree must change their degree objective from the USCTsinghua University dual degree to a different MS degree objective in Computer Science. In this case they will be allowed to transfer only the standard 4 adviser-approved units from Tsinghua University toward the USC degree.
6. The following required courses must generally be taken at USC: CSCI 570  and one course from each of the following two categories: I. CSCI 551 , CSCI 555 , CSCI 571 , CSCI 577a , CSCI 585 , EE 557 ; II. CSCI 545 , CSCI 561 , CSCI 564 , CSCI 574 , CSCI 580 , CSCI 582 . There must be justification for the omission of a required course in either degree, for example a certain course in one degree may provide comparable content to the omitted course in the other degree.
7. The USC Computer Science Department has identified a list of transferrable THU courses that can be considered USC equivalents but is also willing to entertain transfer, on a case by case basis, of unique THU CSCI courses for which no obvious mapping to a USC CSCI course exists.
8. Courses taken at Tsinghua University by students sent from USC will be taught in English.
9. Other requirements for the Master of Science in Computer Science are the same as set forth in the general requirements for Viterbi School of Engineering Master of Science degrees.