Dual Degree Graduate Programs

Ethan Carr Coordinator 

Henry Renski Coordinator

Employers value planners who can design, and designers who can plan; this big picture knowledge enables a very strong professional path.  Our dual degree creates a strong knowledge base in both the process and product of land development. Completing both programs integrates the design and analysis of urban and rural landscapes with a concern for the social, political, regulatory and economic factors that shape those landscapes. This option, which normally requires one less year of study than doing the degrees one after the other, confers two separate degrees upon completion. The versatility that results from the blending of these two related fields can be a valuable asset for the student. Public agencies, such as the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and private consulting firms, e.g. Sasaki Associates have preferred employing those students who have the dual skills this option offers.

Admission

Students apply for admission to each program separately, but will indicate in their application their intent to do the dual degree.  Most students interested in the dual degree program will identify their interest before beginning graduate study. However, for those who decide to apply for the second degree after beginning an initial course of study, we encourage you to investigate the option as early as possible. An early decision may alleviate scheduling conflicts between the required courses of both programs.

Curriculum

The student will be expected to complete the required courses of both degrees. Electives will be selected by the students with guidance from their advisors according to a clearly defined direction of study. In Regional Planning, dual degree students are not required to select an area of concentration.

Credit Hour Requirement

Students who choose the dual degree option are expected to complete 78 credit hours. These can be roughly divided between landscape architecture and regional planning courses. The usual departmental course load is 12 credits per semester. Dual degree students take an additional six credits over the period of the two degrees.

Students must complete a Master’s thesis or project in at least one area of study, and can do a three-course option in the other.   

Students entering the dual degree program without preparatory landscape architecture studies will take those prerequisite courses that make them eligible to enter the second year Landscape Architecture Program. These credits generally do not count toward the 78 credit hours. Detailed guidelines about specific exceptions to this rule are available from the Program Director.

Residency Requirements

Candidates for the dual degree will be required to spend a minimum of three years in the program. In special circumstances this requirement may be modified with the approval of the dual degree program administrator and the program directors.

Henry Renski Coordinator

General Overview

We offer a four-year combined degree in Law (JD) and Planning (MRP) in conjunction with the School of Law at Western New England University (WNEU) in Springfield. The combined JD/MRP degree provides a professional education of greater depth and breadth than either program could do on its own whether your interest be the physical, environmental, social, cultural, economic, legal, or political facets of planning and law.

Upon completion of the combined JD/MRP degree students will have:

• Two degrees in four years rather than the five years it would take to earn them independently
• Professional status in two fields
• A practice specialization
• A network of contacts in both law and planning
• Qualifications for employment in a wide variety of occupations in both public and private sectors

The combined degree program qualifies graduates for a variety of professional roles at the intersection of law and planning. These include, but are not limited to, municipal attorneys, staff personnel on legislative committees, economic development administrators, planning directors, consultant planners, advisors to private clients on land use matters, staff members of governmental agencies, public interest advocates, housing and real estate positions in non-profit and for-profit sectors, and executive assistants to mayors, governors and department heads.

Admission

Applicants must apply and be admitted separately by the School of Law and the Regional Planning Program prior to acceptance into the combined program. Admission requirements include satisfactory performance on the GRE for the Regional Planning Program and the LSAT for the Law School.  Students either apply simultaneously to both programs or apply during their first year of law or planning study. 

Duration and Residency

The combined JD/MRP enables students to earn both degrees in four years rather than the five years it would take if pursued separately. They take course work at the two institutions consecutively rather than concurrently.

Students spend their first year in either the Planning Program or the School of Law. The second year is usually spent in the program not chosen the first year. Thereafter, the student finishes the degree requirements by spending entire semesters at either institution to complete remaining credits. After the first two years the student has three additional semesters (with 12-16 course credits per semester) to complete at the School of Law and 12 semester credits to complete in Planning. Therefore, after two years, the student will have one semester’s work to complete in Planning and three semesters (one and a half years) to complete in Law.

Curriculum and Cross-Credits

The successful completion of the Combined Law and Planning Program requires the student to complete the core courses and mandatory academic requirements at each institution. To meet these requirements each institution grants credit for one semester’s academic work (what is now indicated as twelve course credits by both institutions) at the other institution. Thus for Planning’s 48 credit program, 36 credits are taken in the Regional Planning Program (including required courses and a Master’s thesis or project) with courses in the Law School constituting the remaining 12 credits (cross-credits) for the MRP degree; these 12 credits are effectively the elective class credits required for the planning curriculum. Of the Law School’s required 88 credits for the JD degree, 12 cross-credits are taken in the Regional Planning program.  The JD program requires matriculation in its program prior to taking courses that will be accepted for cross-credit from the MRP program.

Henry Renski Coordinator

Professions in planning and public policy are often closely intertwined. For example, planners in local governments often aspire to become administrators at planning organizations and in government agencies. But many administrators without planning skills are hampered in their ability to lead effectively, especially in rapidly growing governments or organizations. Students who complete the MPPA/MRP dual degree program graduate ready for meaningful and effective careers at the national, state and local levels in public policy, management, and economic development and planning.

Students enrolled in dual degree programs may begin their studies in either program. It is best to complete a full year in one program before beginning the second program. During the second year students will fulfill the core requirements of the other program. Students will fulfill the remaining requirements of both programs in the third year of study.

Sample Program Timetable

Year 1
Fall Semester: MPPA Curriculum 
Spring Semester: MPPA Curriculum
Summer: MPPA Summer Internship (10 weeks full time or equivalent)     

Year 2
Fall Semester: MRP Curriculum 
Spring Semester: MRP/MPPA Curriculum

Year 3
Fall Semester: MRP Curriculum
Spring Semester: MPPA Capstone & MRP Thesis

To Apply

While applicants must meet each program's own admission standards, students only need to submit one application to the Graduate Admissions Office. Students already enrolled in one of the programs can apply to the other program during their first year to matriculate as a dual-degree MPPA/MRP candidate. Information about CPPA's admissions requirements

Deadline

February 1: Applications must be received by the Graduate Admissions Office to receive priority consideration for graduate assistantship funding.

Henry Renski Coordinator

The Master of Regional Planning in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and the Master of Architecture Program in the Department of Art, Architecture, and Art History offer a dual degree program for students to earn a dual Master of Regional Planning/Master of Architecture degree within three years of full-time study.

The professions of planning and architecture are intertwined in numerous ways. Many positions in the municipal as well as private sector can best be filled by persons who possess the joint knowledge and skills of plan and design review. While there is a strong relationship between architecture and planning in most other parts of the world, the connection has historically been much less institutionally strong in the United States. This dual degree program is one of only a handful in the nation.

Students will spend two semesters of full-time study in each program, dividing remaining coursework between the two programs. The MArch core is designed to provide students with a strong technical foundation and intensive studio and skill training, applicable to a wide variety of design issues. The MRP core is based on combining theoretical, historical, social, political, and technical dimensions of planning practice with emphasis on practice through studio and service to nearby communities. The three-year dual degree program offers students a rich educational experience in many areas of design and planning, including sustainable development, site plan analysis and implementation, community-based design and planning, information technology and other new tools and techniques (e.g., GIS, LEED, etc.).

The MRP/MArch degree program will provide its graduates with comprehensive education for professional careers in policy, planning, design and development in the public, nonprofit and private sectors.  Students must apply to, and be admitted to both programs, and must meet satisfactory academic progress requirements for each program.  Prior to admission, students are encouraged to complete introductory courses in design skills and techniques to prepare them for the MArch curriculum.

Henry Renski Coordinator

The Master of Regional Planning Program (Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP)) and the Master of Science in Sustainability Science (Environmental Conservation (ECO)) Program is offering a dual degree program for students to earn the Master of Science in Sustainability Science and the Master of Regional Planning within two years (plus summers) of full-time study. The professions of planning and sustainability science are intertwined in numerous ways. Many positions in government and in the private and nonprofit sectors can best be filled by persons who possess the technical knowledge and skills of systems analysts, consultants and planners. For example, sustainability planners in local governments often aspire to be researchers/analysts within government agencies and organizations. Conversely, sustainability analysts, especially in rapidly growing enterprises or organizations, may be hampered if they cannot exercise the skills to formulate and implement plans in a municipal or regional context. This connection is already reflected in the fact that there is a high degree of crossover between MS students in the urban sustainability concentration taking LARP courses as well as MRP students in the environmental concentration taking ECO courses.

The MS in Sustainability Science core curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong analytical foundation, applicable to a range of sustainability issues. The MRP core focuses on combining theoretical, historical, social, political, and technical dimensions of planning practice with strong emphasis on practice through studio and service to area communities. This two plus year dual-degree program would offer its students a rich educational experience in many areas of science, management and planning, including infrastructural development, systems analysis and implementation, science policy and planning, information technology, and sustainability tools and techniques. The MRP/MS degree program will provide its graduates with comprehensive education for professional careers in systems policy, management, development, and planning careers at the national, state and local level. 

Degree Requirement

Dual degree candidates will be required to fulfill the coursework equivalent of 36 credits in the MRP program and 30 credits in the MS program, 66 total. Students will be required to complete the full core curricula of both programs. MS core and program elective courses will be considered as an equivalent substitute for the nine concentration credits required by the MRP program. Likewise, MRP core and elective planning courses will be accepted as fulfilling MS general concentration electives.
Students will also fulfill the joint requirements for MS practicum and MRP Thesis, Project, or Three-Course Option on a topic of relevance to both programs. A student taking the MRP Thesis or Three-Course Option/MS practicum option will receive 9 + 4 = 13 credits total, a student taking the MRP Project/MS practicum option will receive 6 + 4 = 10 credits total.

The remainder of the minimum dual program requirement of 66 total credit hours will be filled through electives. To meet the minimum 36 credit hour requirement of the dual MRP program, students will be required to take the 24 core credits plus 6-9 thesis, project, three-course option plus three to six additional elective credits from the MRP program (depending on whether the student opts for an MRP thesis or project). These elective MRP courses may be filled by any MRP concentration course, including concentration electives that, while closely related to planning, are often offered in other graduate departments (especially from Environmental Conservation).

Admission

Applicants are required to apply to each school individually, and must meet the respective admission requirements for each program. Once admitted to both schools, a student will qualify for the joint degree program. Applicants to both programs are expected to have taken the GRE. In addition, applicants whose native language is not English must take Test of English Language (TOEFL). Students already enrolled in one of the programs can apply to the other during their first year in the program.

Advising

In the MRP portion of the program, students are primarily advised by the Graduate Program Director of the MRP program. In the MS portion of the program, students are primarily advised by the Graduate Program Director of the MS program. Students will have access to consultation advisors in both programs at all times.