Home › Forums › What I wish I knew before I went to planning school ›

Small Schools and Non-Specific Planning Degrees

Submitted by PHeller on 6 August 2008 - 12:25am.

I'm curious as to how many readers on Planetizen have degrees from small colleges and universities that don't offers degrees in Planning.

Reason I ask is because I've visited a few schools that had planning programs, accredited and non accredited, and could not justify the 2x or 6x increase in tuition of a local university in my area (Millersville University, PA). I still living with my parents, and incurring the tremendous amounts of debt that attending a "big school" would demand did not seem like it was worth it in a field as fluid as planning.

The school I will be attending does not offer any "Bachelors of Planning" programs, but does offers minors in Land Use, Transportation Planning, etc.

Anyone in the field coming from a rather bland academic background?

‹ Online graduate planning theory courses Certificate ›

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Liberal Arts Degree

Submitted by irisvertigo on 7 August 2008 - 3:57pm.

I am starting a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning at UC Irvine and recently graduated from Claremont McKenna College, a small liberal arts college in East Los Angeles. I majored in Environment, Economics, and Politics, and my school didn't offer any specific planning/land use/technical degrees.

I don't think my background hurt my chances of getting into the program, and in fact I really enjoyed and recommend the liberal arts setting. The class sizes are smaller, you really learn how to think critically, the alumni network is deep, and while tuition is steep, financial aid is excellent (CMC just introduced a no-loan policy for all incoming students, which means your education will be funded on grants alone). Moreover, smaller schools like CMC have an advantage over state schools insofar as shelling out money to students for their pet projects (I received $15k to take some students to Guatemala and build a home).

The advantage of entering a field like planning is there are myriad academic backgrounds you can come from. Granted I am only entering the field, but this is how it looks from my vantage point.

Hey there, my undergraduate

Submitted by Failing_Grad on 7 August 2008 - 2:53pm.

Hey there, my undergraduate degree was from a big state school and cheap. It didn't have any accredited Planning program at the time, and honestly, I didn't even know I'd be in the Planning profession at the time. So honestly, get a degree in anything you like. Who knows, you may never even become a practicing planner.

Also, lots of planners I know don't even have degrees. Those that do, don't have degrees in Planning. Ones that do, don't have their graduate degree in Planning but in Public Admin. Pretty much, it seems that having an accredited degree really comes down to meaning something to the APA, for your AICP qualifications. There could be more to it, but that's really only where it matters.

Most jobs anyways simply just require a degree, and they sometimes narrow it down to fields like Geography. So, if you were to get a Land Use minor, it should help you out. Mainly though, use your undergraduate experience to learn what you can, about yourself. When it comes to degrees, you're no greater of a person with one, nor less of one without one.

- Failure.