The Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Community Development (BSSCD) core curriculum provides undergraduate students with an interdisciplinary foundation in natural as well as social sciences, as well as design and digital fields, applicable to a wide range of planning and design issues.  The Master of Regional Planning (MRP) core curriculum combines theoretical, historical, legal, social, political, economic and environmental dimensions of planning practice with emphasis on application through studio coursework and through service to local communities.  The five-year accelerated degree program would offer its students a rich educational experience in many areas of urban landscape design, management and planning, including sustainable development, local as well as regional land-use policy analysis and implementation, environmental resource policy and planning, use of information technology, and other planning tools and techniques.

The BSSCD + MRP degree program will provide its graduates with comprehensive education for professional careers in public policy, resource management, economic development and planning at the national, state and local level.  Students must meet with the undergraduate and graduate program directors and be admitted to each program separately (applying to the graduate program through the Graduate School), and satisfy all of the academic progress requirements for each program.  Prior to full matriculation in the graduate program, students will be required to do a professional planning internship, whether paid or unpaid, preferably for academic credit, either during the summer or the academic year, as a way to acquire relevant professional experience as a critical practice complement to graduate academic work in the planning field.

Undergraduate students interested in the 4+1 Accelerated MRP should aim to major in Sustainable Community Development, with a concentration in either Urban Studies or Landscape Studies.

Freshman and sophomore years would be dedicated to completing the University General Education requirements and the Sustainable Community Development core classes.  During their junior year, students would complete remaining general and core requirements and take concentration classes in either the Landscape Studies concentration or the Urban Studies concentration.  During the summer between the fourth and fifth years, students should participate in a planning-related internship.  The senior year coursework would include some of the core-classes required for the first year of the MRP program.

Students will need to graduate from the BSSCD program with a total of at least 120 credits.  The MRP requires 48 credits.  The programs will share 12 credits toward 156 total credits for the five-year accelerated program.