Overview: The Professional Master's Degree Program
The Master of Urban Planning (MUP) is the usual educational credential for professional planning practice. It is normally a two-year, or six-quarter program. Requirements for undertaking graduate-level study include a satisfactory academic record and undergraduate training in one of a variety of disciplines including urban planning and environmental design or other appropriate fields, such as geography, economics, or other social sciences; English and other humanities; civil engineering and environmental studies; landscape architecture and architecture.

Students planning to enter the graduate program and who have not already completed at least one college-level course in the following prerequisite courses should take them prior to entering the program: Economics; Mathematics; Statistics; American Government; Environmental Systems; and Cultural Diversity. Students without sufficient background will be counseled to take the undergraduate-level prerequisite courses concurrent with their graduate studies.

The primary objective is to educate professional planners with a broad range of competence in planning and design; a second is to provide opportunities for individual studies in selected professional areas. All students are required to complete a core curriculum of essential knowledge in urban planning, design, and development covering history, contexts of design and planning, and theory; analytical methods; processes of planning and implementation; communication skills; current issues; research methods; and studio experiences.

To be awarded the Master of Urban Planning degree, the student must complete a minimum of 72 quarter credit hours of work in urban design and planning related fields, at least half of which must be at the 500-level and above. Full time students normally take 12 credit hours per quarter; 10 is the minimum for those receiving financial aid; 15 is the maximum normally allowed per quarter. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average in the courses taken while enrolled in the Graduate School is required for graduation. All work toward the degree must be completed within six years of entrance into the program.