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Joint Planning and Law Degree Program

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the College of Law offer a joint degree program that allows students to qualify for both the Master of Science in Planning and Juris Doctor degrees in substantially less time than would be necessary to achieve each independently. Total credit hours required are 111, of which 33 are taken in Planning and 78 in Law.

Applicants to this program must meet the separate admission requirements of each unit, including satisfactory performance on the GRE for admission to Planning, and satisfactory performance on the LSAT for admission to Law. Applicants to the M.S.P ./ J.D. joint degree program should make formal application through the admissions' office of both the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the College of Law using the joint degree program's unique major code (313415). Students enrolled in J.D. studies may make application to the M.S.P. program, but only before completion of their first year.

Students enrolled in the joint degree program pursue both degrees concurrently, spending their first year in full-time coursework in law and the second year in urban and regional planning. Thereafter, a mixture of coursework from both units should be followed.

Joint degree students need not select a planning specialization (in effect, law becomes their specialization), but they must continue to meet all other requirements for the planning degree, including the Internship and the Capstone Project. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning will award the M.S.P. degree only if the student's cumulative Grade Point Average in M.S.P. degree courses is 3.0 or higher. This requirement is in addition to, and does not replace, any other university or Departmental academic standing requirements. A member of the Law faculty replaces one member of the Urban and Regional Planning faculty on the advisory committee for the Capstone Project.