At the heart of the two-year master's degree in planning is an integrated core curriculum giving students a solid foundation in social, economic, and public policy analysis for effective and inclusive planning. In addition to foundations and content area knowledge, planners need strong professional skills in analytics, report writing, infographics, oral presentation, and team management to function successfully in various organizational and political environments. A total of 45 semester hours of required courses include those in the core, one or two areas of concentration, and a capstone project.

Required curriculum

The semester hour breakdown for students pursing a combined masters degree will differ.

*Completing an internship is optional but strongly encouraged. Course credit for an approved internship will count as elective credits (1, 2, or 3 s.h.) towards the total semester hours required for the degree. 

Other requirements

The following requirements must also be met in order to obtain the master's degree:

• All core, capstone, and concentration area courses must be completed with a grade of B- or better
• Students must attain an overall graduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or better
• Students must pass a final comprehensive exam. A thesis examination (oral defense) will substitute for the program's final exam. 

Core curriculum

Core courses focus on institutions and social, economic, environmental, political, administrative, and legal systems that frame planning, policy analysis, and public decision-making.

First-semester courses blend foundational knowledge in economics and statistics, with practical introductions to law, land use, and the history, theories, and practice of planning.

Students also develop the ability to identify social goals, positive, and and normative criteria for evaluating public policies, and build their quantitative (statistics, forecasting, surveys, regional analysis) and qualitative skills for plan-making and evaluation.

As students proceed, increasing emphasis is placed on the development of critical judgment and insight through the application of theories to planning problems and case studies.

Area of concentration

For a full list of concentration courses with course numbers, students should refer to the Urban Planning Student Manual. 

Capstone

Students complete a major planning research project in the capstone courses, Sustainable Communities Lab I and II. Throughout the capstone, students will apply their knowledge and skills to a planning problem or issue in an Iowa community. This is done in tandem with the University’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) which has been providing public consultation to communities in Iowa for over a decade and is a national model for community engagement and learning. 

Typical schedule for full-time students

Students with sufficient previous coursework may request a waiver of a core course.