Dual Degree Opportunities
The Communication Management Program has established dual degree programs with the USC Gould School of Law and Hebrew Union College.
Master of Communication Management/Juris Doctor (MCG/JD)
Academic training in law and in communication management provides a powerful background for careers in business, entertainment or government life. The USC Gould School of Law and the USC Annenberg School of Communication collaborate in a program that enables these educational opportunities. Students complete both the JD and the Master of Communication Management in three years, the time normally required for the law degree alone.
Students must complete 20 units (five courses) of communication courses at the School of Communication: one required research methods course; one required core conceptual foundation course; one approved theory-practice integration course; and two courses from approved CMGT elective areas of focus.
Students are required to complete 76 units from the law school. To earn the JD, all students (including dual degree students) must complete 37 numerically graded law units at USC after the first year. The associate dean of the USC Gould School of Law may make exceptions to this rule for students enrolled in law school honors programs.
First Year: Required law school courses.
Second and Third Years:
20 units of communication courses, including the 4-unit required research methods course in the first semester of the second year, and the 4-unit required core conceptual foundation course in the second semester of the second year, and an approved 4-unit theory-practice integration course; 46 units of law courses, of which 8 units must be approved as appropriate for acceptance by the School of Communication toward its degree.
Application to pursue the dual degree should be made before completion of 15 units of work in law or 8 units toward the Master of Communication Management degree. Admission by the law school to its JD degree will be evaluated as a substitute for GRE scores.
View this dual degree program in the USC Catalogue.
Master of Communication Management/Master of Arts, Jewish Nonprofit Management (MCG/MA)
The dual degree program, Communication Management/Jewish Nonprofit Management, offers students the opportunity for advanced study of sophisticated communication processes and technologies in the context of the nonprofit arena. The program has been developed by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) to combine the study of communication theory, processes and technologies with postgraduate education in Jewish nonprofit management and leadership. The goal of this program is for graduates to perform more effectively in the nonprofit sector, having received specific training in areas such as organizational communication, media impacts and policy.
Students of this program are admitted separately to each school. Students are required to complete a minimum of 34 credits in Jewish nonprofit management. Four of the 34 required credits of graduate coursework at the Zelikow School are used to fulfill the School of Communication’s cognate option.
In addition, students are required to take 24 units (six courses) at the School of Communication, including one required research methods course in the first semester; one required core conceptual foundation course in the second semester; one approved theory-practice integration course; and three courses from approved CMGT elective areas of focus.
Those interested in this program should contact Melissa Garai at the Zelikow School at (213) 765-2173 or visit the website at zsjnm.huc.edu for more information about its requirements.