Program Overview

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Urban and Regional Planning, MS

The Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture (DPLA) offers an accredited Master of Science (MS) degree in Urban and Regional Planning. The degree trains students in the knowledge, theories, and skills to be leaders in their communities by making positive change through informed and reflective action. Our department centers the values of sustainability, equity, and justice, and works with communities to address many of the complex challenges involving space and place that are critical to the planning profession.

Program Overview

The MS URPL degree is intended to prepare graduates for professional planning careers in government, nonprofit and community organizations, and the private sector, and to work at a variety of scales including rural and urban communities. The program normally requires two academic years of full-time work plus an internship. In addition to the MS program, the department offers a PhD program.

Admissions

• Fall Deadline: February 1
• Spring Deadline: October 15
• Summer Deadline: This program does not admit in the summer
• GRE (Graduate Record Examinations): Not required
• English Proficiency Test: Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not exclusively in English, must provide an English proficiency test score earned within two years of the anticipated term of enrollment.
• Letters of Recommendation Required: 3

Application Requirements

• Online application
• PDF of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts
• Statement of purpose: Applicants should submit a thoughtful, reflective one- or two-page statement discussing reasons for going into planning; applicants with an interest in a particular concentration should discuss this; applicants with planning or planning-related experience should include this.
• Three references from people familiar with the applicant's academic and/or professional work.

Funding

Resources to help afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School and from the MS in Urban and Regional Planning Program Committee.

Major Requirements

Mode of Instruction

• Face to Face: Yes
• Evening/Weekend: No
• Online: No
• Hybrid: No
• Accelerated: No

Curricular Requirements

• Minimum Credit Requirement: 46 credits
• Minimum Residence Credit Requirement: 24 credits
• Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement: 23 credits must be graduate-level coursework.
• Overall Graduate GPA Requirement: 3.00 GPA required.

Required Courses

• Planning Core:
  • URB R PL/SOC WORK 721: Methods of Planning Analysis (3 credits)
  • URB R PL 742: Planning Orientation Seminar (1 credit)
  • URB R PL 781: Planning Thought and Practice (3 credits)
  • URB R PL 833: Planning and the Legal System (3 credits)
  • URB R PL 791: Visual Communication for Planners (3 credits)
  • URB R PL 912: Planning Workshop (4 credits)
• Structure and Functions of Cities and Regions: Select one of the following to satisfy the requirement (3 credits)
  • URB R PL 512: Gentrification and Urban Restructuring
  • URB R PL 550: Transportation and the Built Environment
  • URB R PL 601: Site Planning
  • URB R PL 611: Urban Design: Theory and Practice
  • URB R PL 731: Introduction to Regional Planning
  • URB R PL/ECON/PUB AFFR 734: Regional Economic Problem Analysis
  • URB R PL 751: Introduction to Financial Planning
  • URB R PL 761: Central City Planning: Issues and Approaches
  • URB R PL 841: Urban Functions, Spatial Organization and Environmental Form
  • URB R PL 844: Housing and Public Policy
• Geospatial Methods: Select one of the following to satisfy the requirement (2 credits)
  • LAND ARC 311: Introduction to Design Frameworks and Spatial Technologies
  • LAND ARC 511: Geodesign Methods and Applications
  • LAND ARC/ENVIR ST/SOIL SCI 695: Applications of Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resources
  • GEOG/CIV ENGR/ENVIR ST 377: An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
  • GEOG 378: Introduction to Geocomputing
  • GEOG/ENVIR ST/LAND ARC/URB R PL 532: Applications of Geographic Information Systems in Planning
  • GEOG 578: GIS Applications
  • GEOG 579: GIS and Spatial Analysis
• Planning Concentration: 12 credits
• Electives: 12 credits
• Professional Practice Internship

Policies

Prior Coursework

• A maximum of 22 credits are allowed from Planning Accreditation Boardaccredited coursework taken at other institutions may transfer.
• In all other fields, 25% of credits completed up to a maximum of 11 transfer credits are allowed.

Probation

Refer to the Graduate School: Probation policy.

Advisor / Committee

Student should meet regularly with the advisor to plan academic career. The advisor is required to approve and sign the plan of study form, which is then submitted to the graduate coordinator prior to the student being allowed to graduate.

Credits Per Term Allowed

15 credits

Time Limits

The masters program takes two full years of study.

Learning Outcomes

1. (General Planning Knowledge) Comprehension, representation, and use of ideas and information in the planning field, including appropriate perspectives from history, social science, and the design professions.
2. (Purpose and Meaning of Planning) Appreciation of why planning is undertaken by communities, cities, regions, and nations, and the impact planning is expected to have.
3. (Planning Theory) Appreciation of the behaviors and structures available to bring about sound planning outcomes.
4. (Planning Law) Appreciation of the legal and institutional contexts within which planning occurs.
5. (Human Settlements and History of Planning) Understanding of the growth and development of places over time and across space.
6. (The Future) Understanding of the relationships between past, present, and future in planning domains, as well as the potential for methods of design, analysis, and intervention to influence the future.
7. (Global Dimensions of Planning) Appreciation of interactions, flows of people and materials, cultures, and differing approaches to planning across world regions.
8. (Planning Skills) Use and application of knowledge to perform specific tasks required in the practice of planning.
9. (Research) Tools for assembling and analyzing ideas and information from prior practice and scholarship, and from primary and secondary sources.
10. (Written, Oral, and Graphic Communication) Ability to prepare clear, accurate and compelling text, graphics and maps for use in documents and presentations.
11. (Quantitative and Qualitative Methods) Data collection, analysis and modeling tools for forecasting, policy analysis, and design of projects and plans.
12. (Plan Creation and Implementation) Integrative tools useful for sound plan formulation, adoption, and implementation and enforcement.
13. (Planning Process Methods) Tools for stakeholder involvement, community engagement, and working with diverse communities.
14. (Leadership) Tools for attention, formation, strategic decision-making, team building, and organizational/community motivation.
15. (Values and Ethics) Values inform ethical and normative principles used to guide planning in a democratic society.

Accreditation

Planning Accreditation Board Accreditation status: Accredited through December 31, 2027.

Certification/Licensure

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) The requirements of this program meet certification/licensure requirements in the following states: Wisconsin.