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Head of the Department: Christopher Silver
111 Temple Buell Hall
611 Taft Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-3890
j-terry@uiuc.edu
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers graduate programs
leading to the degrees of Master of Urban Planning and Doctor of Philosophy
in Regional Planning. Students can also apply to joint degree programs
to obtain a Juris Doctor and a Master of Urban Planning or a Master
of Architecture and a Master of Urban Planning.
Admission
The social sciences, the physical sciences, the design professions,
engineering, and urban planning are relevant undergraduate backgrounds
for graduate work in planning. Consideration will also be given to
students prepared in the humanities and other fields. The Graduate
College admission requirements apply. International applicants must
score 590 or better on the paper-based Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL), or 243 or better on the computer-based test. The
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for all applicants.
The additional requirements described below apply for admission to
the doctoral program. Spring admission may be permitted in exceptional
circumstances.
Graduate Teaching Experience
Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience
in teaching is considered an important part of the graduate experience
in this program.
Master of Urban Planning
The professionally accredited master’s degree program prepares
students for careers in planning practice. Such careers involve public
service at all levels of government, private consulting practice,
and a large range of organizations in need of planning services. The
program also prepares students for advanced work leading to the Ph.D.
degree and a career in teaching and research. The program requires
core courses, an area of concentration, electives, and a capstone
experience. Core courses focus on the basic elements of planning,
including theory, land use, history, analytical methods, spatial organization,
public organizations, and law. Concentrations include community and
economic development, environmental science and sustainable development,
planning information and decision support systems, and land use and
infrastructure. Within these concentrations, students can further
specialize in topics such as urban design transportation, historic
preservation, housing, growth management, and international planning.
A capstone experience is required in the form of a master’s
project, advanced workshop, concentration paper, or thesis. Internships
during the summer are highly recommended.
Candidates from a wide variety of undergraduate degrees may qualify
for the Master of Urban Planning degree by completing one of the following
options for total number of gh: (1) 64 gh, including core courses,
if an internship is not completed; (2) 60 gh, including core courses,
if a zero-gh internship course (Urban Planning 590) is successfully
completed; or (3) 32 gh if a student has a B.A. in Urban Planning
from Urbana-Champaign and was admitted to the accelerated program
so that most of the core master’s courses were completed as
an undergraduate. Only students selected by the faculty as outstanding
planning undergraduates at the end of their junior years are eligible
for this third option. Up to 16 gh of the core courses may be
waived if a student has an undergraduate professional degree in urban
planning and the department approves a petition for this option. This
reduction in core courses cannot be combined with option 3, and the
student must take at least 30 gh units of his or her coursework in urban
planning.
For options 1 and 2, at least 40 gh must be in urban and regional
planning courses. In option 3 at least 20 gh must be in urban
and regional planning courses. Candidates admitted to the joint Master
of Urban Planning and Juris Doctor or the Master of Urban Planning
and Master of Architecture shall complete a minimum of 32 gh
in urban planning, including core courses and the requirements of
the other program. The thesis or master’s project of a joint
degree student may be taken in either program, with faculty in each
program participating on the committee.
Doctor of Philosophy in Regional Planning
The doctoral program is offered in close cooperation with an interdisciplinary
program faculty. The program is designed to educate researchers and
teachers for university positions as well as specialized practitioners
for the public and private sectors. The program emphasizes environmental
science and social science aspects of regional planning and incorporates
the necessary background in research methods and planning theory and
application. Students wishing to pursue environmental science aspects
of regional planning should have completed at least three courses
in physics, chemistry, or biology; one semester of college-level calculus
or linear algebra; one semester of statistics; and one semester of
economics. Students wishing to pursue social science aspects of regional
planning should have completed at least one semester of economics;
three semesters of other social sciences courses, such as economics,
political science, or sociology; one semester of statistics; and one
semester of college-level calculus or linear algebra. Students otherwise
qualified may be admitted with deficiencies in these areas. Deficiencies
may be removed by passing proficiency examinations or by taking courses
after admission to the program, but courses taken for this purpose
will not count toward fulfillment of degree requirements.
To qualify for the Ph.D. in regional planning, 96 gh of credit
must be completed. The student entering with the baccalaureate degree
will be required to complete at least 64 gh of course credit and
up to 32 gh of dissertation credit. The student entering with
a master’s degree in planning or a closely allied field generally
will be required to complete a minimum of 32 gh of course credit
and up to 32 gh of dissertation credit. A maximum of 32 gh
of advanced-standing credit may be granted. All student programs will
consist of courses in planning research methods and planning theory
and application. Depending on the program emphasis that a student
selects, appropriate courses in environmental science or social science
aspects of regional planning will be chosen in consultation with the
student’s academic adviser. The student must pass a qualifying
examination, a preliminary examination of the dissertation proposal,
and a final examination on the dissertation.
Faculty Research Interests
Members of the faculty are engaged in research, professional applications,
public service, and continuing education. These efforts are undertaken
in the areas of land use, economic development, environmental planning,
geographic information systems, housing, information systems, international
planning, planning history and theory, social planning, transportation,
preservation planning, and regional science.
Library Resources
The department has one of the finest planning libraries in the world,
with a collection of books and reports developed during the more than
seventy-five years that planning education has been offered at this
University.
Computing Resources
The department has an instructional computing laboratory with sophisticated
graphic workstations to support planning decision making.
Financial Aid
Fellowships, tuition and service fee waivers, teaching assistantships,
and research assistantships are available each year. Financial aid
is awarded on the basis of the student’s previous academic record
and other indicators of potential. In the case of assistantships,
the possession of specific teaching or research capabilities is a
consideration. |
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