Urban and Regional Planning | Geography | CAS

Major in Urban and Regional Planning

Do you marvel at how places work and want to make them better? Urban and Regional Planning majors use the power of geographical thinking to analyze urban problems and design creative solutions. Planners think integratively and critically about towns and cities, use geospatial and other methods to analyze them, and apply innovative planning concepts and techniques to help shape urban development.

Planning is founded in the liberal arts, teaching valuable thinking, research, and communications skills. But it’s also highly practical, applying innovative techniques and specialized skills to solve real-world problems, local and global. Their broad knowledge and in-demand skills prepare graduates for exciting professional opportunities and grow quickly into leadership roles.

What can I do with a major in Urban and Regional Planning?

Planning paves the way to purposeful and successful careers. Graduates often work with local or regional governments on land-use regulations, long-range plans, and infrastructure, or in private consulting, real estate development, and corporate strategic planning. Others join nonprofit or community organizations. While many enter the workforce directly and compete with advanced-degree holders, some pursue further education in planning, design, public administration, or law. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023) reports these median salaries for career professionals:

$50-60K

Recent Graduates in Public Service

$81-104K

Urban and Regional Planners, Real Estate and Land Developers and Construction Managers

$108K

Data Scientists

$115-194K

Upper-Level Managerial Roles in Local Government, Architecture/Engineering and Business

What will I learn?

Our curriculum prepares students to:

develop an integrative, geographic perspective on the function, form, and evolution of towns and cities
think critically to define urban and sustainability problems
apply geospatial science (i.e. GIS) and other graphical techniques to analyze and visualize information
build research, professional writing, and public presentation skills
apply planning concepts and techniques through field experiences and collaborative, community-based projects