Since its founding in 1948, the Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) has grown into one of the largest and most respected graduate city and regional planning programs in the United States. Throughout its long and changing history, the department has sought to provide its students with:

• Lifelong analytical, research, and communication skills;
• The knowledge and skill sets to successfull y practice planning in a variety of urban, metropolitan, and regional settings;
• An understanding of the history and theory of cities and urban regions, and expertise in various fields and sub-fields of city and regional planning.
   

The Master of City Planning degree combines a common core curriculum with the opportunity to specialize in one of six concentration areas and two field areas:

• CONCENTRATIONS: Transportation Policy and Planning; Regional Development*; Housing, Community, and Economic Development; Urban Design; Land Use Planning; and Environmental Planning and Policy.
   
• FIELDS: International and Comparative Planning; and GIS and Spatial Analysis.
   

*Note: The Regional Development concentration in its present form will be discontinued starting academic year 2008-2009. Students currently enrolled in the concentration will be grandfathered with regard to satisfying concentration requirements. Alternatives to the present Regional Development concentration will be considered in Spring 2008; information on any new or reconstituted concentration will be announced when available. Applicants who indicated regional planning as their proposed concentration on their MCP application will not be penalized nor will it detract from their chances of admission. There is a possibility that an alternative to the present Regional Development concentration will be introduced in time for academic year 2008-2009.

Degree Requirements

To earn the MCP degree, a student must complete:

• 48 units of coursework (which cannot include more than 6 units of independent study, or more than 3 units of credit for outside professional work or research);
• Two years of residence, unless an explicit waiver is given for coursework in other departments or at other universities;
• The core curriculum;
• Coursework in a designated or individual concentration totaling not less than 9 units; and
• A Client Report, Professional Report, or Master’s Thesis, normally completed during the next-to-last or last semester of residence.
   

The normal time for completion of the MCP degree is four semesters, or two years.

Program Selection and Advising

Students plan their individual programs with the help of their faculty advisor. All entering graduate students are assigned an advisor, whose role is to help students structure their first-semester program. Normally, first-year students meet with their assigned advisors during the first or second week of classes.

Students can change advisors any time after the sixth week of the first semester; we encourage students to choose advisors in their concentration or area of interest. By close of the first semester, students are expected to formally choose a concentration and to complete a tentative two-year program outlining their expected coursework.

Internships

All students are expected to complete a three-month internship in a planning-related position between their first and second years of study unless exempted by previous work experience. Frequently, the work completed during a summer internship forms the basis for the professional report. International students who hold an F-1 or J-1 visa must complete an internship during their two years of study.

Areas of Concentration and Fields

DCRP currently offers six concentrations and two fields. Concentrations provide an opportunity for students to develop deeper knowledge and skills in a particular sub-area of planning. Fields offer further specialization that students can pursue in conjunction with any one of the concentrations. Some students may wish to develop their own individualized concentrations. To do so, students must submit a proposed course of study to the MCP Program Committee for approval.