Admission
Students from a wide range of academic backgrounds are admitted to the Master of Urban and Environmental Planning degree program. Applicants with an accredited bachelor's degree in the social sciences, engineering, design, or liberal arts contribute to the vitality of the program and to the field of planning.
Overview and Philosophy
The Master of Urban and Environmental Planning degree is a professional degree aimed at individuals interested in planning and creating healthy, safe, livable and equitable communities. Students in this degree program obtain the analytical skills, technical tools, theoretical insights, and applied experience needed to make them effective, ethical and compassionate professionals.
A distinctive feature of our program is our commitment to community engagement, collaborative planning, and sustainability. While sustainability is addressed in specific courses with that title, it provides the underlying framework for virtually all of the department's courses. The name of our department is Urban and Environmental Planning. We believe it is necessary to consider both the urban and environmental aspects of a setting to address its issues, problems, and opportunities. We are as much concerned with the economy and issues of equity as we are with the environment and find it more useful to emphasize linkages than distinctions. We hope to inspire our students to share our enthusiasm for addressing the planning needs of sustainable communities.
Graduate courses (5000-level or higher) are selected from those in the department and in other departments in the School and University. Students earning dual degrees or who have transferred from other planning programs may warrant advanced standing and be able to complete the planning program in less than two years. Students may take more than the minimum 51 credits if their schedules allow it.
