MSSM Program Details: 12-Month Degree Format
Gain the skills you need to succeed in the software industry at an accelerated pace. In only twelve months, strengthen your technical skills, practice your management skills, and establish your Silicon Valley Network.
Program Features:
- 12 months (August - August)
- Ideal for candidates with some professional experience looking to build skills in an accelerated format
Curriculum Requirements & Plan
To earn the MSSM degree, you must complete a total of 144 units. Of those, about half are required courses and half are electives of your choosing. The MSSM degree takes place over three semesters: Fall, Spring, and Summer.
- Students must have a minimum QPA of 3.0 to graduate.
- Review the full Graduate Student Handbook for additional details regarding degree requirements.
12-Month Curriculum Plan
Application Deadlines
Full-Time MSSM
12-Month Degree
Applications Will Open:
October 1, 2025
12-Month Degree
Applications Will Open:
October 1, 2025
Next Admissions Cycle
Start-Term: Fall 2026
Start-Term: Fall 2026
Full-Time MSSM
Application Deadline for Fall 2026:
January 20, 2026
Application Deadline for Fall 2026:
January 20, 2026
Admissions Toolkit:
Learn How to Apply
Learn How to Apply
Featured Courses
The Business of Software
Students form project teams and work collaboratively to develop a complete business plan for a software product, including revenue and expense models, as well as sales, marketing, and support mechanisms to define the structure of a successful software business.
Integrated Innovation for Large Scale Problems
Designed to get students out of their comfort zone, his experiential studio course focuses on team-based innovation across design, business, and engineering with the potential for large-scale impact. You'll take on a complex social problem and methodically develop unexpected ideas using systems and design thinking to tackle it.
Foundations of Software Management
Students apply fundamental methods, models, and frameworks to assess real software companies from various perspectives - marketing, strategy, finance, operations - to understand how businesses organize and make decisions. You'll develop skills for managing teams and employee performance by working individually and in groups.
The MSSM Experience: In Their Own Words
Focused on building products in the heart of Silicon Valley, the MSSM degree is an end-to-end program that enables students to think through every aspect of building products or launching their own ventures.
Garima Sinha (MSSM '13) discusses how the curriculum blend of technical and people skills taught her to think differently about creating products and managing teams in her work as a product manager.