Master of Urban and Regional Planning

As a professional discipline, urban planning is concerned with sustaining and enhancing the quality of life in cities and regions, and designing livable communities.

About This Program

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) degree prepares students to become competent professional planners who possess the knowledge, skills and values to formulate plans and improve the quality of public and private development decisions in order to meet the social, economic and physical needs of the culturally diverse urban and rural communities in which they hope to work.

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program aims

To offer a core-planning curriculum that provides a comprehensive understanding of the roles and functions of planning in the development of human settlement.
To provide students the choice of four areas of concentration: environmental, housing and community development, transportation planning, and international planning. Each of area of concentration offers a wide range of electives.
To provide the knowledge, skills and values required for professional planning practice.

Special Accreditation/Affiliation

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB). The MURP degree program is housed within the Department of Community and Regional Planning that is a full member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP).

Graduation Requirement

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program curriculum consists of 45 credit hours with two options:

Non-thesis option: Students need to complete 24 hours of courses and 21 hours of professional readiness requirements.
Thesis option: Students need to complete 21 hours of courses, 18 hours of professional readiness requirements and 6 hours of thesis.

Financial Assistance/Scholarship

In addition to financial assistance provided by federal and state governments, and AAMU’s institutional aid program, the College of Agricultural, Life & Natural Sciences and the Department of Community Planning and Regional Planning offers financial assistance and scholarship awards. Students can also apply for other grants of fellowships, such as the Dwight Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship, HUD work-study grants and Graduate Research Assistantships.

Recent Student Internship

Maryland DOT
Downtown Huntsville, Inc.
Bloomberg Philanthropies
City of Huntsville
City of Birmingham
AAMU Community Development Corp.

Career Fields

Planners work in every state and around the world. They work in rural areas, suburban areas, and large cities. They function in the public sector within federal, state and local governments. They also work in nonprofits and within the private sector in real estate development companies and planning or multi-disciplinary consulting firms