The Accelerated Dual Degree program offers students an opportunity to earn a BS in Community & Environmental Planning and an MS in Urban & Regional Planning in five years. The program combines a strong undergraduate degree focused on understanding and addressing community and environmental planning problems with the advanced perspective of urban and regional planning at the graduate level. Students graduating from this program will be extremely well-positioned to work in any planning position, thus bolstering the employment prospects of program graduates. Students interested in the program should contact the Coordinator for the Community & Environmental Planning Program in their freshman year. Students may be admitted into the program after they earn 60 credits, which usually corresponds to the end of the sophomore year. Transfer students who have fulfilled the requirements may also apply. Students admitted to the program will complete a total of 108 credits for the undergraduate program, and 12 credits of graduate coursework in urban and regional planning that is applied to the undergraduate degree. The student will then complete an additional 34 credits for the MS. The total semester hours required for the student to complete both the undergraduate BS in Community & Environmental Planning and an MS in Urban & Regional Planning is 154.
Eligibility & Admission
Students are eligible for admission if they meet the following requirements:
- Declared major in Community & Environmental Planning
- Sophomore status (60 or more credits earned)
- Minimum 3.3 GPA in undergraduate coursework
- Minimum grade of B in all Community & Environmental Planning courses
To be admitted to the accelerated program, students must submit to the program coordinator the following materials no later than 1 November of the fall semester of the student’s junior year:
- An unofficial academic transcript
- 2 letters of recommendation from Rowan University faculty
- A statement of purpose (300 - 500 words) that outlines the student’s educational and career goals.
Students enrolled in this accelerated BS/MS program will take 12 credits of graduate courses at the undergraduate rate in their senior year (two in fall and two in spring). The student must meet with the program coordinator during the next semester’s registration period to determine the courses that the student will take.
Graduation
To graduate from this accelerated dual degree program with a BS and an MS, students must:
- Complete all requirements for the BS in Community & Environmental Planning, including any General Education / Rowan Experience / Rowan Core requirements;
- Earn a grade of C or better in all undergraduate courses required by the BS in Community & Environmental Planning;
- Complete all requirements for the MS in Urban & Regional Planning.
Student Status
The MS in Urban & Regional Planning is a “Category 3” program at Rowan. Category 3 program students must: Earn no more than two total “C” grades of any combination of “C+” or “C.” (C- grades are not acceptable.); earn no grades lower than a “C”; earn an official cumulative GPA (according to matriculation level) of at least 3.000 on Rowan’s 4.000 scale.
Students who enter the combined program but do not maintain satisfactory progress or who simply choose to not continue pursuing the MS degree will be allowed to apply up to 12 credits of graduate coursework to the undergraduate degree in Community & Environmental Planning. If the student “opts out” before 12 graduate credits have been completed, any remaining credits needed for the 120 credits required for the undergraduate degree will be selected through consultation between the Community & Environmental Planning academic advisor, the Program Coordinator for Community & Environmental Planning, and the student.
For information related to this major or minor, please contact:
Kevin Keenan, Ph.D., AICP
856.256.4231
keenankp@rowan.edu
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