Master of Science in Data Science and Law

This program is designed for students interested in the legal aspects of data. Students will learn the basics of data science and the law and will develop knowledge and skills through data science and machine learning methodologies in order to address legal issues and problems.

It provides students with the breadth of knowledge that will position them for new and critical career paths that lie at the intersection of technology and the law. The primary professional/employment outcomes include:

Becoming a data scientist in law firms to streamline legal processes, support organization analytics, and support data research for specific legal cases

Develop approaches for efficient exploitation of large amounts of legal documents in different areas to serve specific aspects of the law and streamline well-defined aspects of legal processes and law-adjacent work

Develop innovative data systems to broaden access to justice by streamlining popular legal services

Provide counsel for organizations in matters involving data and privacy protection

Provide counsel on legal aspects of new data systems and data architectures for organizations

Provide counsel on public policy and regulations concerning data ethics and privacy

The MS in Data Science and Law program is offered jointly by the USC Gould School of Law and the USC School of Advanced Computing within the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

NOTE: This program does not qualify students to sit for a U.S. bar exam or become licensed attorneys. Those who intend to practice law will have earned or should pursue a JD degree. Also, this program does not provide advanced standing credit nor an admissions advantage to USC's JD program and course units from this program cannot be applied toward the JD degree.

The specialization must form a coherent focus on a discipline that provides students with insight into a domain in which data science can be usefully applied; this is normally another departmental or interdepartmental major for the BA degree, permitting students to satisfy most or all of the requirements for a double major (see Undergraduate Degree Programs for rules governing the overlap of courses allowed for a double major).

The program teaches students to understand, design and implement effective solutions to meet organizational, societal and management needs for information and decision support.

All students undertaking this degree program must have knowledge of the following areas (the core):

Information systems and technology fundamentals
Programming basics
Statistics
Data management
Machine learning
Data visualization

Applications will be reviewed by the Viterbi School of Engineering.

Prior to enrollment, admitted applicants must have completed a bachelor’s degree from an institution within or outside the United States and must have taken at least two collegiate-level mathematics courses in the following areas: Calculus, Calculus-based Probability, Linear Algebra, Discrete Mathematics. Enrolled students without prior statistics background are required to take DSCI 564 Probability and Statistics for Data Science prior to taking DSCI 550 Data Science at Scale.

All information contained here is summarized from the USC Catalogue and is considered non-official. For all rules, regulations, procedures, and outlines, please see the current academic year USC Catalogue. The USC Catalogue supersedes all other publications.

Current students follow degree requirements in effect for the academic year they began their studies at USC. If you are a current student, please refer to your STARS report or the appropriate USC Catalogue for your year. Students seeking to advance their catalogue year to follow updated curricula may contact their department advisor.

Published on February 23rd, 2026Last updated on February 27th, 2026