Program Overview

Certificate of Graduate Study in Urban Policy

Overview

The Certificate of Graduate Study in Urban Policy is designed to strengthen your knowledge of local, state, and federal urban policy and learn how community-based approaches can help solve socioeconomic problems in urban areas.

Program of Study

This graduate urban policy certificate program covers basic concepts and strategies in domestic and international urban planning, policy, and analysis. Core coursework covers issues in housing, unemployment, crime, community services, and the political and economic influences on urban growth and revitalization. After completing the core courses, you choose five electives in the urban policy-related topics that interest you most.

Core Courses

• Urban Community Development
• Urban Policy in the United States

Elective Courses

This urban policy program gives you the option to take electives in Africana studies, anthropology, economics, public administration, political science, and/or sociology, as well as in urban development and planning. Choose three courses from the approved list in the Graduate Bulletin.

Sample Electives

• International Development Planning for Jobs, Housing, and Community Service
• Local Economic Development Strategies and Techniques
• Metropolitan Governance and Planning
• Parks, Preservation, and Heritage Planning
• Planning History and Philosophy
• Planning Law
• Planning Processes, Plans, and the Design of Communities
• Transportation History and Policy
• Urban and Metropolitan Transportation Planning
• Urban Community Development
• Urban Design and Public Space
• U.S. Housing Policy

Career Paths

Certificate students already working in the public and private sectors often move into policy-related positions or pursue promotion after finishing the program. Other students go on to earn graduate degrees and become employed as social science researchers and instructors in colleges and universities.

Sample Job Titles

• Public transportation director
• Economic development program manager
• Offender reentry employment analyst
• Policy research associate
• State housing policy specialist
• Urban planning advisor

Admissions Requirements

Deadlines

• Fall: Rolling
• Spring: Rolling
• Summer: Not Available

Required Application Materials

• Transcripts from all schools attended
• Three letters of recommendation
• Statement of goals