Urban and Environmental Planning

The mission of the School of Planning is to advance knowledge and skills for the planning and design of healthy, aesthetically rewarding, equitable, and sustainable communities. The School of Planning offers a 47-semester-hour, accredited, professional, Master of Urban and Environmental Planning (MUEP) degree. The school also participates in an interdisciplinary collegewide program leading to the PhD degree in Environmental Design and Planning.

The Master of Urban and Environmental Planning (MUEP) is an interdisciplinary, professional degree designed to prepare students for leadership roles in planning within both the public and private sectors and from local to international organizations. The MUEP degree is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board. The curriculum includes a common core of required courses that provides linkage between knowledge and practice, and fundamental theories and skills. The two specializations offered are community and urban development and environmental planning. The community and urban development specialization provides students with knowledge and skills in areas such as housing, economic and community development, public policy analysis, transportation, land use planning, urban design, and historic preservation. The environmental planning specialization provides students with knowledge and skills in such areas as sustainable design, environmental resources, growth management, environmental policy analysis, open space design, and conservation. Specializations provide connections between the School of Planning and the other disciplines in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and the university. Students have a unique opportunity to integrate urban and environmental aspects of planning in rapidly developing metropolitan areas in the demographic and climatic context of the southwest region of the United States.

Students must take one of the three following options to obtain an integrative experience in research and planning: capstone studio, professional project, or thesis. Practical experience in planning may also be obtained through an optional internship program. In addition to the core faculty, the program is enriched by the participation of faculty from other ASU academic units as well as leading planning practitioners from the Phoenix area.

Admission Requirements and Procedures. To be consid-ered for the program, the applicant must fulfill all admission requirements of the Division of Graduate Studies, in addition to meeting admission requirements of the School of Planning. The following materials are required by the School of Planning and should be submitted to

International students who wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship and whose first language is not English are required to pass the TSE administered by the American English and Culture Center at ASU.

Application Deadlines. Since most financial aid packages are granted for the fall semester, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their materials on or before March 15 to the Division of Graduate Studies. For spring enrollment, application materials are due on October 15. However, applicants who submit their materials after the semester deadline are considered on a rolling basis according to space availability.

Selection Procedures and Notifications. School faculty evaluate the applications and supporting materials and rec-ommend to the Division of Graduate Studies if the applicant should be granted regular or provisional admission or if admission should be denied. If admission is provisional, the Division of Graduate Studies specifies in its letter of admission the provisions to be met to gain regular status.

Program of Study. An approved program of study is 47 semester hours or 50 with an optional internship. The pro-gram has the typical distribution as follows:

Students must take required core courses and select an area of specialization. Students must also select a capstone studio, professional project, or a thesis option. All students are expected to have taken at least one course in statistics. Inquiries about the MUEP program should be directed to the School of Planning.

Foreign Language Requirements. None.

Thesis Requirements. A capstone studio, thesis, or professional project is required.

Final Examination. A comprehensive oral examination administered by the supervisory committee and based on the student’s thesis or professional project is required of all students electing the thesis or professional project option.

Scholarly activities of the School of Planning include community development, environmental planning, housing and urban policy, international research, historical research and preservation, transportation, planning theory and education, and urban-environmental modeling.

For more information about the school’s research activities, access the Web site at asu.edu/caed/sop/index.htm.