Community and Regional Planning

Do you seek a career through which you can impact your community and the world? Do you want to help shape the future of cities, towns and neighborhoods? Are you motivated to improve quality of life and enhance sustainability?

The Bachelor of Science degree in community and regional planning will give you the knowledge and skills to make a difference. Planners play an important role in urban growth and development, helping to prepare for infrastructure (roads, railways, sidewalks, greenways and lands), build housing, and achieve a balance between the built and natural environment.

The BS in community and regional planning curriculum is 48 hours, including core courses, an area of emphasis (community planning or coastal planning), and electives. Students will choose either a minor or two concentration areas, and students are also encouraged to complete an internship.

Planners work at every scale: internationally, nationally, at the multistate level, at the state level, and for multicounty regions and localities (counties, cities and special districts). Planners also work at the scales of the neighborhood and individual development sites. The subject matter of planning is broad and includes environment, transportation, community facilities, land use, housing and community development, social and economic development, and others. Professional planners work in a variety of settings, including governments, nonprofit groups and private firms.

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There is no catalog data for this program.

Graduates with this degree are successful in many fields and careers, including the following:

• City/Urban, Community & Regional Planning
• Environmental Assessment
• Urban and Regional Planners
• Public Policy Analysis
• Public Administration
• Land Development and Real Estate

Career Opportunities

ECU has developed resources to help you learn more about career opportunities and job market outlook. In addition, the websites below provide specific information on careers in the various majors from which students may choose:

NC Tower

This website provides graphs and tables of in-depth information on employment rates, wages and ongoing higher education enrollment of graduates from the North Carolina Community College System and from the University of North Carolina system schools. NC Tower includes data on former UNC students who are working in roughly 90% of all jobs in North Carolina. This database excludes information for graduates who are:

• Self-employed;
• Work for the federal government, including the military: or
• Work outside of North Carolina.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

This website also provides in-depth information regarding pay, projected new jobs, required education, growth rate and on-the-job training information on various occupations.

Degree-specific internships

For information on internship information for specific majors, go to the home page of the department in which the major is located and, as available, find the link to the information on internships in that major.