Ball State University's four-year undergraduate planning major prepares students for direct entry and subsequent growth in a career as a professional urban planner in the public or private sectors. The degree is fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board of the American Collegiate Schools of Planning, the official planning education sanctioning body.

This program combines physical and policy approaches, and it teaches students to improve the design quality of constructed environments while protecting and managing the resources of natural environments. Students also learn the process of community and economic development as applied to small towns and rural areas as well as urban neighborhoods.

Students pursuing this degree are taught awareness of good urban form and land uses, an ethical view of community and citizen needs, and an understanding of the complex nature of urban growth and development. The program emphasizes basic skills of data collection, analysis, synthesis, and presentation.

The minimum number of credits required for graduation from this program is 126. The total number of credits varies for each student.

First-Year Program

All undergraduate students in the College of Architecture and Planning share a common first year of study. Students planning to major in urban planning, architecture, or landscape architecture are introduced to all three disciplines and share design and design communications studios. The first year also provides the opportunity to take courses that meet Ball State's University Core Curriculum requirements. In the second year, students begin to concentrate on their chosen major. Learn more about your freshman year at CAP.

Degree Curriculum

The core of the undergraduate urban planning curriculum is a sequence of courses in history and theory of planning, presentation techniques, private development, quantitative methods, planning law, and planning issues, coupled with a sequence of planning studios. The core also includes a block of required courses offered outside CAP in the economics, political science, sociology, natural resources, and geography departments.

In the third and fourth years, students take elective courses enhancing their particular interests, including land use, housing, transportation, neighborhood or central-city revitalization, environment, energy, or infrastructure. The program culminates with a comprehensive planning field studio.

Studio Courses

Studio courses challenge urban planning students to develop skills and a knowledge base for solving problems in creative and environmentally sound ways. The studios in this program progress from site analysis at the regional and site-specific level to data collection and manipulation at the county and neighborhood level to applied field studios addressing real projects involving actual community settings and clients. Learn more about CAP's design studios, or view examples of student projects online (coming soon).

Internship

All students in this degree program must participate in a 10-week internship sometime after completing their third year. Summer internships in planning agencies, community development departments, and similar settings are the most common. Learn more about our internships...

Special Activities

Noted professionals in the field share their expertise with students as guest lecturers, visiting scholars, and studio critics on campus and through interactive teleconferences and gallery exhibits. Check out upcoming events on our calendar of events.

Urban planning students also take trips to significant sites, attend conferences, and participate in field study programs across the country and abroad, developing a multicultural perspective. Find out more about our field study opportunities.

Related Programs

Students can enhance their studies with the many electives and undergraduate minors available within CAP and in other disciplines across campus. Ball State's Honors College program also offers exciting educational challenges for exceptional undergraduate students.

For More Information
David Schoen, Acting Chair
Department of Urban Planning
(765) 285-1963
ekelly@bsu.edu

For complete information on program requirements, please consult the Ball State University Undergraduate Catalog.