Program Overview

Transportation Planning, Graduate Certificate

The graduate Certificate in Transportation Planning requires 12 semester hours of credit. The certificate curriculum includes transportation planning history, policy, analytic methods, and the relationship between travel, city form, and urban design. For the capstone course, students undertake a real-world transportation project in collaboration with a community partner through the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities.

Program Structure

• The first course in the certificate program introduces students to the fundamentals of urban planning history, theory, and the symbiotic relationship between transportation systems, urban form, and sustainability.
• Elective courses deepen knowledge through specialization in areas of policy, travel behavior analysis, and traffic safety.
• Students complete the capstone project as their last course to earn the certificate.

Completion Options

• The certificate may be completed in one calendar year or completed over a two-year span if students complete one transportation course per semester.
• This option accommodates part-time students and those currently enrolled in a two-year master's degree program at the University of Iowa.

Course Format

• Courses are taught primarily in hybrid or online formats.
• Some elective courses are offered on campus only.
• Courses are taught by faculty members in the School of Planning and Public Affairs and the College of Public Health.

Required Coursework

• The Certificate in Transportation Planning requires the following work:
  • This course (completed first):
    • URP:6266: Transportation, Urban Form, and Sustainability (3 hours)
  • Two of these:
    • URP:4262: Transportation Research Methods and Analysis (3 hours)
    • URP:6233: Public Finance and Budgeting (3 hours)
    • URP:6260: Transportation Policy and Planning (3 hours)
    • CPH:4220: Global Road Safety (3 hours)
  • One of these:
    • URP:6210: Sustainable Communities Lab II (with advisor approval) (3 hours)
    • URP:6270: Transportation Planning Studio (3 hours)

Sample Plan of Study

• Sample plans represent one way to complete a program of study. Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with an academic advisor.
• For additional sample plans, see MyUI.

Transportation Planning, Graduate Certificate

• Plan of Study Grid (Manual) Academic Career
  • Any Semester: Hours
  • The graduate certificate in transportation planning requires 12 semester hours of credit.
  • First Year
    • Fall: URP:6266 - Transportation, Urban Form, and Sustainability (3 hours)
    • Spring: Certificate: transportation planning elective course (3 hours)
  • Second Year
    • Spring: Certificate: transportation planning elective course (3 hours)
    • Summer: URP:6210 or URP:6270 - Sustainable Communities Lab II or Transportation Planning Studio (3 hours)
  • Total Hours: 12