The School of Planning and Public Affairs (SPPA) at the University of Iowa is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this week.
SPPA’s journey of empowering communities commenced in 1964 when an interdepartmental faculty group proposed a novel master’s degree in urban and regional planning. This proposal was approved, elevating the University of Iowa to the twenty-fifth institution in the United States to offer such a program. The first cohort of graduate students was admitted in 1965. Initially focused on physical design, the program underwent significant evolution throughout the 1960s and 1970s, influenced by federal social activism, advocacy planning, urban renewal, and interstate highway construction. It ultimately transitioned to a public policy approach, integrating political science, economics, and applied quantitative methods.
In October 2010, the Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning was renamed the School of Urban and Regional Planning. This change reflected the school’s growth, its accreditation of a professional degree, its expanding research agenda, and its commitment to community engagement across Iowa.
On June 4, 2020, the Iowa Board of Regents approved the establishment of an additional master’s degree in public affairs, necessitating another name change to the School of Planning and Public Affairs. This new degree reinforces the university’s longstanding commitment to public affairs and policy.
Today, SPPA offers master’s degrees in urban planning and public affairs and has nine full-time faculty members with expertise in land use, affordable housing, environmental planning, economic development, transportation, sustainable communities, community food systems, social policy, and environmental politics. SPPA is also home to the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC). Through the IISC, students engage in capstone projects in collaboration with faculty and communities throughout Iowa, identifying, designing, and implementing sustainability-oriented initiatives. This partnership provides valuable outreach to Iowa’s communities while transforming the experiential learning experience at the University of Iowa.
Over the past six decades, the university has graduated more than 1,000 alumni who have subsequently held prominent positions in urban and regional planning and public affairs, both domestically and internationally.
SPPA is holding a celebration event on Friday, April 11, 2025, at the Old Capitol Museum. The event will feature an alumni panel discussion on SPPA’s impacts, a showcase of contemporary student capstone projects, and a reception. For more information, please contact Jenny MacCourt (jennifer-maccourt@uiowa.edu).