Urban & Regional Planning

General Admissions Information for Undergraduate Urban and Regional Planning

Students considering a major in planning should contact the department's undergraduate program advisor as early in their academic careers as possible. Early counseling can help students select GECR courses which best complement their major course requirements. Transfer students should contact the advisor during their admission process to have their records reviewed.

In general, students that major in planning are advised to select their GECR courses from the following areas: physical and human geography, geology, biology, statistics, sociology, economics and government. Knowledge in these disciplines will aid students in their planning courses.

The university requires that all students receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree fulfill a foreign language requirement. Students who have had two years of the same language during their high school education or one year of the same language at the college level have fulfilled this requirement. This requirement applies to all planning majors. Undergraduates seeking a degree in planning must complete this requirement including students transferring with an associate of arts degree. If the requirement has not been completed prior to admission to the program, the student, in consultation with the program advisor, will have to schedule the completion of their foreign language requirement during their tenure in the planning program. Students are encouraged to link language studies with field excursions to assess planning. Special student exchange programs may be coordinated who have completed language requirements.

Although there are no formal admission requirements for entering the undergraduate planning program, acquisition of basic skills in English composition and mathematics is important preparation for the planning major. Normally, students who enter the program as second or third quarter sophomores or juniors should have completed these requirements. Those students who have not will be expected to complete these requirements within the first three quarters of their tenure in the planning program.

Credit Through Evaluation

Students with life experiences that are closely related to work in the planning profession, community organizing or other similar work, can have a faculty member review their work for credit through evaluation. Credits toward the degree requirements can be granted if these life experiences are sufficient. Credits gained through evaluation are applied to the elective credits in the major.

General Admissions Information for Master in Urban and Regional Planning

Admission requirements of the MURP program include those required by the graduate school as well as the following:

• Two letters of recommendation submitted to the planning graduate advisor of the Department of Urban Planning, Public and Health Administration. Both letters should be from instructors familiar with the applicant's undergraduate or, where applicable, graduate academic record. In the event the applicant has professional planning experience, letters may come from a supervisor or person familiar with planning work of the applicant.
• All applicants shall also submit a personal letter of intent explaining why they wish to study planning and outlining their educational and career goals.
• All applicants for the program must have completed a class in statistics prior to entry into the program or complete a course while in the program. In the latter case, the credits for the class will not be included in the 72 credits required for the degree.