Urban Planning Admissions

Dear Prospective Applicant:

Urban planning is a vibrant field, and the UCLA Department of Urban Planning is by almost any measure an elite and thriving program.  Our faculty include many of the most widely-read planning scholars in the world, a cadre of action-oriented practice-faculty, and a steady stream of prominent visitors from the world of practice.   A 2009 Thomson Reuters study of urban studies scholarship ranked UCLA #1 in research publications in the U.S. over the five year period from 2004 to 2008 [1].   The most comprehensive study of planning faculty research, published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research in 2004, ranked  the UCLA Urban Planning faculty as the most cited in North America.  And beginning this fall, the flagship academic journal of planning, the Journal of the American Planning Association, will be edited at UCLA.

In existence for  more than 40 years,  the Department of Urban Planning has graduated over 2,000 students from its professionally accredited master's degree program, which ranks 4^th nationally. 

As indicated in the following statistics our graduation rates are improving and in 2011-2012 99 percent of our students graduated within four years:

• 2005-2006 88% graduation rate, 51 degrees awarded
• 2006-2007 90% graduation rate, 38 degrees awarded
• 2007-2008 93% graduation rate, 51 degrees awarded
• 2008-2009 89% graduation rate, 57 degrees awarded
• 2009-2010 88% graduation rate, 58 degrees awarded
• 2010-2011 94% graduation rate, 64 degrees awarded
• 2011-2012 99% graduation rate, 74 degrees awarded

 Our global network of alumni  who assist current students with their studies, internships, and jobs after graduation  is among our program's greatest assets.   We count among our alumni the current mayors of El Monte and Ventura, a Los Angeles City Councilman, and the former:  California State Controller, Director of the Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, and mayor of Santa Monica. 

Alumni survey data indicate that 95 percent of our graduates are employed in full time professional planning or planning related jobs within one year of graduation.  Approximately six percent of our MURP graduates take the AICP exam within three year of graduation and 100 percent of those who have taken the exam have passed.

UCLA Urban Planning offers action-oriented study in arguably the most dynamic region in the world.  Our courses bring both scholarly research and professional practice to bear on questions of urban planning, public policy, and social and environmental change. Our students are bright, accomplished, diverse, and always passionate; they study:  Community Economic Development and Housing; Design and Development; Environmental Analysis and Policy; Regional and International Development; and Transportation Policy and Planning.   Studying planning in one of the world's great cities with leading faculty, accomplished alumni, and the very best fellow students; this is what sets UCLA apart.

Thank you for your interest in UCLA's Department of Urban Planning. I encourage you to join us at one of our recruitment events [2], or to contact us at with any questions you might have. 

Sincerely,

Lois Takahashi
Professor and Chair
Department of Urban Planning

About UCLA Urban Planning