The City and Regional Planning Program is offered by the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, located in the College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities. This professional masters' degree program was established in 1968 and has been fully accredited since 1973 with over 430 graduates. As the only graduate planning program in South Carolina, the program plays a pivotal role in the development of the planning profession in the state and region. Graduate planning students come from a variety of undergraduate majors and professional backgrounds. The MCRP program typically has annual classes of approximately 15-20 students providing the opportunity for extensive faculty involvement in teaching, research, and public service. Students come from many states and several countries.
The MCRP program taps the diverse resources of other planning-related departments in the University such as architecture, landscape architecture, economics, political science, civil engineering, industrial management, sociology, environmental and transportation engineering, and construction science and management. Because planning is an interdisciplinary field, obtaining a dual master’s degree is an option for planning students. Several studios and courses focus specifically on an interdisciplinary approach to planning and land development with students from several departments and colleges.
The program emphasizes sustainable land development applying appropriate technology and recognizing the balance of physical, economic, financial, social, and policy dimensions of planning. While the curriculum covers theory and policy issues, the principal focus emphasizes the applied skills that students will need to enter the job market as professional planners and to evolve as leaders in the field. Classes use real-world situations for analysis and for the application of planning skills.
The primary mission of the City and Regional Planning Program is to serve the local, state, regional, national, and global environment by integrating theory and practice in dealing with challenges of community growth and change in an increasingly diverse society by:
- educating and preparing planning professionals for public, private, and nonprofit service at the forefront of the planning profession and
- engaging in research and service activities that address critical planning issues.
The program focuses on creating a sustainable built environment by applying policy, appropriate building practice, technology, innovation, and natural, physical, economic, and social dimensions of planning.