Urban Planning

J. West, Chairperson

bsu.edu/urban

The urban planning program prepares students for professional careers as urban planners in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. Graduates work for city, county, and regional planning agencies or the federal government; planning consultants; community development and other nonprofit organizations; and private firms dealing with urban growth and revitalization in large and small communities. Some may go on to earn PhDs and become researchers or professors.

Planning at Ball State combines physical and policy approaches. Students are taught to improve the design quality of constructed environments while protecting and managing our natural and built environments. Students learn the process of community and economic development as applied to small towns and rural areas as well as urban neighborhoods. Whether as private developers or public officials, graduates are expected to have a commitment to improving community life for citizens of all incomes and a broad competence to make both new and old communities better places in which to live.

The four-year Bachelor of Urban Planning and Development degree, which is fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board, prepares students for direct entry into and subsequent growth in professional planning careers. Graduates may also pursue advanced degrees in planning or other professional programs.

There are two ways to enter the undergraduate program. Option one, the traditional pathway, is via application to the College of Architecture and Planning and takes a student through the CAP first-year courses. Option two, the alternative pathway, does not require an application to CAP but requires that students take PLAN 100 and PLAN 105. 

The Department of Urban Planning will review applications for entry into the program from students in both the traditional and alternative entry tracks at the end of the student’s first year. Students with a 2.75 GPA or higher and a well-designed portfolio are granted admission with no restrictions. Students with a 2.74 or lower GPA and/or with a substandard portfolio may be granted provisional admission; such students will be required to improve their GPA and demonstrate competence in their course work within the second year. If provisional admission is granted, factors to be considered will include: overall academic performance to date, performance in PLAN 100 and any other planning courses taken to date, a writing sample, a recommendation from at least one faculty member in a studio or project-based course, or any additional materials or recommendations a student may wish to submit. The entry review process is intended to ensure that students enrolling in the professional degree program have the ability to perform advanced work in the field and a sincere interest in urban planning.