Other Opportunities - Urban and Environmental Planning

Advanced Standing

CONTINUING FOR A MASTER OF PLANNING DEGREE
Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning students may consider pursuing the Master’s Degree.  This may be accomplished in fewer than four graduate semesters if course planning is done carefully.

The Master of Urban & Environmental Planning degree program is a two year course of study oriented toward students coming from arts and science or design backgrounds. The graduate curriculum consists of core courses, specialized courses concentrating in functional areas of planning, applied courses emphasizing the synthesis of planning analysis and values in specific settings, and a professional internship.

The core curricula of the undergraduate and graduate programs are similar in focus and subjects.  The differences are found in the breadth and depth of material covered in individual courses depending on the level of offering.  The elective courses focusing on the functional planning elements are offered to both upper level undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students choose a Planning Concentration from existing ones, or design a specialty in consultation with a faculty member.  Undergraduates are not required to have a Planning Concentration or an internship.

Admission
Admission to the Master’s Program with advanced standing will be determined through the regular formal graduate admissions procedure. Letters of Recommendation, and a Letter of Intent will be required.  Careful attention will be given to the Letter of Intent which should indicate the rationale for a specific course of study.  The program is intended for students with strong undergraduate records.

Prospective students may apply for advanced standing in the Master’s Program after graduating from the University of Virginia BUEP Program, or other recognized or accredited Bachelor of Planning Programs.

Advanced Standing
Only students having a cumulative overall GPA of 3.0 will qualify for advanced standing.  Those not meeting this requirement for advanced standing would still be able to waive specific courses by following the procedure for waivers (see below).  The grade in an individual course for which a waiver is granted must be at least a B.

General Curriculum Requirements for Students Receiving Advanced Standing:
A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate-level courses is required in order to complete the MUEP degree. Students in the fifth year MUEP program are required to take at least 24 credit hours over at least two semesters. A maximum of two courses/6 credits taken at the graduate level during the undergraduate years can count for graduate credit. These six credits must be beyond the 120 required by our accreditation agency for a BUEP. In total the combined BUEP/Fifth Year MUEP requires 150 unique credit hours.

A program permitting advanced standing to holders of undergraduate degrees in Urban & Environmental Planning would retain all of the main components of the Master of Urban & Environmental Planning curriculum. The Advanced Standing Program would require students to complete:

1. The five core courses, or their equivalents, required for the Master of Urban & Environmental Planning Degree (Planning Process and Practice, Legal Aspects of Planning, Methods of Planning Analysis, Urban Theory and Public Policy, Planning Theory and Practice).
2. A functional Planning Concentration of six courses or more, including a PLAC (Planning Application Course).
3. A professional internship.
4. Two or more Planning application courses (PLAC), at least one after receipt of a Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning Degree
5. A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate work taken after receipt of a Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning Degree.
6. PLAN 6090 (Planning Theory) taken as a graduate student.

Planning Concentration:
A Planning Concentration is to be completed from advanced planning courses taken in the last year of the Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning degree and the year of graduate study. This concentration should be among those defined by the Urban & Environmental Planning Department or worked out with an advisor largely from planning courses.  The Planning Concentration shall consist of at least 6 courses, including 5000-level courses taken for the BUEP, and at least one Planning Application Course taken in the graduate year in the Planning Concentration. The student also must complete a summer internship of ten weeks or a work-study program amounting to 10 hours per week for two semesters. The internship usually would be taken during the summer between the final undergraduate year and the graduate year.

Waivers:
When a student has previously completed a course, earning a grade of B or better, which has a demonstrated counterpart master’s core course at UVA, the student’s advisor - (or the Admission Committee which is understood to include the Department Chair), upon consultation with the instructor of the course to be waived - may eliminate the requirement for that student to take the UVA master’s core course. No reduction in hours for the Master’s degree results from waiving a course.

Joint Degrees:
This curriculum could permit students to start on a second Master’s Degree. Admission and acceptance of such courses must be approved by the administrators of the second Master’s Degree.

One-Year Program Summary

The one-year leading to the Master of Urban and Environmental Planning degree would follow this general pattern.