Department of Community & Regional Planning, MS

There is an urgent need in this region and throughout the nation for professionals involved in developing plans for the growth and revitalization of urban, suburban, and rural communities. This program helps students understand how to create and evaluate plans that make the best use of a community´s land and resources for commercial, institutional, residential, and recreational purposes.

Graduate work leading to the Master of Science degree can now be completed at Temple University Harrisburg. The primary purpose of the program is to develop skilled practitioners for the dynamic and growing field of community and regional planning in government, non-profit, and private sectors. Students develop an understanding of the physical and economic issues of planning, sensitivity to the social and environmental impact of planning decisions and knowledge of the governmental structures as they apply to planning. These skills place students in the front lines of efforts to create and maintain sustainable communities. The program builds on the traditions already established in the Center for Sustainable Communities located at Temple University Ambler.

Degree Requirements

Admissions Requirements

Applicants must hold a bachelor´s degree from an accredited school and must submit transcripts from all institutions of higher learning previously attended as well as scores from the three sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or scores from the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). Along with two letters of recommendation from persons in positions to evaluate their past work and/or the ability to do graduate work, students should submit a personal statement outlining reasons for pursuing the Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning.

The candidate will be expected to identify goals that are appropriate to a professional degree program in an essay that indicates an ability to communicate in written English on a professional level. Minimum requirements for consideration for admission are an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better (based on a 4.0 scale) and GRE scores of 500 or more in both verbal and mathematical testing or equivalent scores on the GMAT. Applicants whose native language is not English must score a minimum of either 575 on the paper and pencil version or 230 on the computer-based version (CBT) of the TOEFL. Students admitted with TOEFL scores below either 600 on the paper and pencil or 250 on the CBT will be required to take and pass an English skills course during their first semester at Temple University. Applicants having an undergraduate degree conferred by an American university are exempt from the TOEFL requirement. However, applicants having a graduate degree conferred by an American university are not exempt from the TOEFL requirement.

Apply Online

Specifiy "Harrisburg" on your online application

Application Deadlines

A rolling admission policy makes it possible to apply until July 1 for the fall term and November 1 for the spring term. However, a student may chose to take up to nine credits as a non-matriculated student before applying to the program. To sign up for classes a non-matriculated student, the student must present a copy of a transcript from a Bachelor´s Degree or higher to the Community and Regional Planning Department for approval.

Areas of Specialization

Planners must understand how cities, towns, and regions are structured and how to create and evaluate plans that maintain and improve the quality of life in those communities.

The M.S. in Community and Regional Planning (CRP) addresses problems affecting large portions of the American population. CRP courses help students to develop skills to address issues like difficulties associated with population increases, the exponential growth of schools without an adequate tax base; the stress on groundwater and other aspects of the natural environment; the loss of open land to tract housing; the construction of shopping malls and the accompanying decline of small central towns; and the emphasis on the automobile at the expense of public transportation by emphasizing the preparation of the urban/suburban land use plan. These skills include data collection, site analysis and evaluation of location, market, transportation, and environmental factors.

Private, public and non-profit employment opportunities are strong for graduate degree holders based on current need and a projected growth for the next decade.