Colleges with good Urban Planning/Studies/Design Majors?

aquapt
Sat, 06 Oct 2018 22:53:02 +0000

An important question is, how much of a studio design component do you want?

If you want lots of studio work as well as meaningful co-ops in the field, consider the Urban Landscape program at Northeastern.

For a program that is project-based and includes some studio work, look at the Urban and Environmental Planning track within the School of Environmental Design at CU Boulder. ENVD is a relatively small program which provides lots of individual attention and a great academic “home” within the larger university.

The Environmental Analysis major at the Claremont Colleges (based at Pitzer and Pomona, but also available to Scripps students) has a track called Sustainability and the Built Environment that includes some design classes and can be tilted toward urban planning depending on how you choose your electives.

The major in Community, Environment, & Planning at UW Seattle could be worth a look as well.

Depending on your financial circumstances, the out-of-pocket for the schools on your list could vary widely. Since you’ll likely need to go to grad school in this field, getting out of undergrad debt-free should also be a significant consideration. I would trim this list very differently depending on whether you’re looking for need-based financial aid or merit aid… or if you’re actually okay with full-pay.