Overview
MS (Public Policy) + MCRP (City and Regional Planning) training leaders in urban, environmental, and/or economic development policy analysis
The dual M.S. degree program in Public Policy and City and Regional Planning prepares students for urban policy analysis work at the national, state, and local levels. Graduates work in policy and planning in public, private, and non-profit settings building upon the complementary perspectives and skills of the two professions.
In addition to providing interdisciplinary professional training, the dual degree also provides the opportunity to step toward Ph.D. programs in either Public Policy or Planning with an emphasis on Urban, Environmental, or Development Policy.
All students must complete a minimum combined requirement of 75 credit hours for the dual degree program. Students receive both degrees.
[Note: either the Public Policy concentration or the City and Regional Planning specialization must be in the area of Economic Development; Urban and Regional Policy; or Environmental Policy, Planning and Management]
Program Contacts
Program Graduate Advisors:
Ms. Johnnie Sawyer, School of Public Policy
Ms. Dracy Blackwell, City and Regional Planning
Dual Degree Program Faculty Advisors:
Prof. Jennifer Clark, Dual Degree Advisor, School of Public Policy
Prof. Harley Etienne, Dual Degree Advisor, City and Regional Planning
Directors of Graduate Studies:
Prof. Gordon Kingsley, Director of Graduate Studies, School of Public Policy
Prof. Bruce Stiftel, Chair of the School of City and Regional Planning;
Required Core Courses for MSPP/MCRP Dual Degree
Note: Courses are not always offered in the semester designated below. Double check with the program graduate advisers.
Core Courses for the MS in Public Policy (19 hrs):
PUBP 6001: Introduction to Public Policy (1 hr)
PUBP 6010: Ethics, Epistemology, and Public Policy (3 hrs.)
PUBP 6012: Fundamentals of Policy Processes (3 hrs.)
PUBP 6112: Research Design in Policy Science (3hrs)
PUBP 6118: Public Finance and Policy (3 hrs)
PUBP 6201: Public Policy Analysis Capstone (3 hrs)
Students must also take one of the following three classes:
PUBP 6014: Organization Theory (3 hrs)
PUBP 6017: Public Management (3hrs)
PUBP 6018: Policy Implementation and Administration (3 hrs)
Core Courses for MCRP (17 hrs):
CP 6002: Introduction to Fields of Study in Planning (2 hrs)
CP 6012: History and Theory of Planning (4 hrs.)
CP 6016: Growth Management Law and Implementation (3 hrs.)
CP 6024: Quantitative and Computer Methods in Planning (4 hrs.)
CP 6052: Applied Planning Studio (4 hrs.)
Core Course Options for Dual Degree Students (6-7 hrs):
PUBP 6114: Applied Policy Methods and Data Analysis (3 hrs) or CP6025: Advanced Planning Methods (4 hrs).
and
PUBP 6116: Microeconomics in Policy Analysis (3hrs) or CP 6031: Economic Analysis in Planning (3 hrs)
Professional Paper Option
Research Paper in each degree program (minimum of 8 credit hrs)
Students shall complete a research paper in each degree program.
For the MSPP degree, the student will complete:
PUPB 6801 Research Paper (4 hours minimum).
For the MCRP degree, the student will complete:
CP 8990 Applied Research Paper (4 hours minimum).
It will be the student’s responsibility to apprise the faculty advisors of these papers of the scope of work of both papers so that the advisors may make appropriate determinations as to the adequacy of the scope of work of the project they advise.
Concentrations and Specializations
NOTE: up to 12 credit hours of Public Policy courses may be used as electives toward the MCRP degree (and vice versa)
Public Policy Concentration (12 credit hrs) and City and Regional Planning Specialization (12 credit hours)
One concentration from among MSPP program offerings, each of which involves at least 12 credit hrs.
[Note: either the Public Policy concentration or the City and Regional Planning specialization must be in the area of Economic Development; Urban and Regional Policy; or Environmental Policy, Planning and Management]
Concentration Course Sequences:
1) Economic Development Specialization Sequence:
Note: This sequence is required for a CRP specialization in economic development
PUBP 6600/CP 6412: Local Economic Development Planning and Policy
PUBP 6602/CP 6422: Economic Development Analysis and Practice
2) Urban and Regional Policy Specialization Sequence:
Note: This sequence is required for a CRP specialization
PUBP 6604: Methods of Regional and Urban Policy Analysis and Planning
PUBP 6606/CP 6452: Urban Development Policy
3) Environmental Planning & Policy Specialization Sequence:
Note: This sequence is required for a CRP specialization
PUBP 6314/CP 6223 : Policy Tools for Environmental Management
CP 8823: Urban Environmental Planning and Management
Electives
Additional elective courses approved as appropriate to the degree studies sufficient to achieve a minimum of seventy-five (75) credit hours for award of the dual degrees.
Electives
Economic Development and/or Urban and Regional Policy Electives
- PUBP 6741 Geographies of Innovation: Development, Regions, and Labor Markets (Clark)
- PUBP 6415: Regions, Technology, and Policy (S. Breznitz)
- PUBP 8550: Advanced Topics in Urban and Regional Economic Development (PhD Capstone Seminar) (Shapira/Clark)
- CP 6432: Industrial Restructuring and Its Planning Implications (Leigh)
- CP 6442: Equity, Social Justice, and Economic Development (Etienne)
- CP 6612/PUBP 8803-HE: Community Development (Etienne)
- CP 6233: Sustainable Urban Development (Ross)
- INTA 6740/PUBP 6740: Innovation and the State (D. Breznitz)
- INTA 6304 - Modernization and Development (Lynch)
- INTA 8803-BL1/CP 8883-BL: Special Topics: Urban Transformations in the Global South (Lynch)
Environmental Policy and Planning Electives:
- PUBP 6300 Earth Systems
- PUBP 6310 Environmental Issues Seminar
- PUBP 6312 Economics of Environmental Policy
- PUBP 6326 Environmental Values and Policy Goals
- PUBP 6320 Sustainable Systems
- PUBP 6330/CP 6261: Environmental Law
- PUBP 6701 Energy Technology and Policy
- PUBP 6760/CP 6760: Negotiation & Conflict Management
- PUBP 8803: Special Topics: Climate Policy
- PUBP 8540: Advanced Topics in Environmental Policy.
- CP 6233 Sustainable Urban Development
- CP 6241 Water Resources Planning
- CP 6250 Hazardous Waste Planning and Management (offered infrequently)
- CP 6541 Environmental Analysis using GIS
- CP 6105 Land Conservation
- CP 6331 Land Use and Transportation Interactions
- CP 6214 Environmental Planning and Impact Assessment
- CP 6531 Introduction to Remote Sensing
- CEE 4310 Water Quality Engineering
- CEE 6625 Transportation, Energy, and Air Quality
- CEE 6120 Environmentally Conscious Design and Construction
- CEE 6390 Air Pollutant Formation and Control
- CEE 6241 Water Resources Management
- EAS 4410 Climate and Global Change
- EAS 6111 The Earth System
- EAS 6792 Air Pollution Meteorology
Admissions
Application, Admission, and Degree Award of the Dual Degree Program
Students wishing to enroll in the dual degree program must apply separately and be admitted independently to each program—MS in PUBP and the MCRP.
- For prospective students not yet enrolled in either the MCRP or MS in PUBP program, an application should be submitted to each program separately.
- Students currently enrolled in and pursuing either the MCRP or the MS in PUBP and seeking admission to the dual MCRP-MSPUBP degree program should apply directly to the other program, and provide that graduate program office with a copy of the student’s original application to the first program together with a copy of the student Georgia Tech transcript. The program graduate advisors will forward applications on file to the other program office in response to a request from a student applying to the dual degree program. These materials will be reviewed during the regular admissions process of the respective program office.
It is recommended that students apply to the dual degree program before beginning studies in either program, and no later than the end of their second semester of study in their first year.
Students must complete both degree programs simultaneously so that the degrees may be awarded simultaneously. That is, students enrolled in the dual degree program will not receive either the MCRP or the MSPUBP degree until they have met the requirements of both degree programs.
However, should a dual degree student choose to formally withdraw from one of the two degree programs, the student would have the option of completing the other degree following the normal requirements of that single degree program.
As the MCRP degree is approved for differential tuition and the MS in PUBP currently is not, arrangements will be put in place so that dual degree students will pay MCRP differential tuition for approximately one half of their enrolled semesters, and will pay regular graduate tuition rates for approximately one half of their enrolled semesters.
Current Students
Rahul Jain
Graduation: Expected December 2010
Advisors: Clark
Thesis (working title): Effects of Federal Funding in Revitalization of Urban Labor Markets
Thesis Committee: Clark, Etienne
Undergraduate Education:
New York University, New York, NY
BS, Finance
Neela Ram
Graduation: Expected December 2010
Advisors: Clark and Stiftel
Undergraduate Education:
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
BS, Biology
Graduates
Alexa Stephens
Graduated 2007
Advisors: Clark
Thesis: The Development of the Digital Music Industry in Atlanta
Thesis Committee: Clark, Greene, EII
Undergraduate Education:
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
BS, Urban Studies
Brook Brandon
Graduated 2008
Advisors: Clark
Thesis: Emergency Preparedness Planning & Policy and Vulnerable Populations in Pubic Schools
Thesis Committee: Clark, Mitchell, Baker
Undergraduate Education:
Morris Brown College, Atlanta, GA
Chelsea Arkin
Graduation: May 2010
Advisors: Clark and Etienne
Option Paper: Community Land Trusts: An Effective Tool and Innovative Model for Affordable Housing
Undergraduate Education:
Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
AB in The Growth of Structure of Cities,
minors in History of Art and American History.
Beth Hawes
Graduation: December 2009
Advisors: Clark and Immergluck
Option Paper: Foreclosures, Vacancy and Abandonment in Atlanta: How Housing Market Typologies Can Aid Policy Making and Resource Allocation
Undergraduate Education:
Auburn University - Auburn, Alabama
BS, Horticulture
Nancy Galewski
Graduation: August 2010
Advisers: Elliott and Clark
Thesis: Strengthening networks in Campesino Communities in the Callejon de Huaylas for improved management of the Santa River Watershed, Peru.
Thesis Committee: Elliott, Lynch, Clark
Undergraduate Education:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
BA, International Development and Political Science
Charlie Moseley
Graduation: December 2009
Advisors: Clark and Etienne
Applied Research Paper: The Economic Development Impact of Urban Casinos
Undergraduate Education:
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
BA, Political Science
Ashley Rivera
Graduation: May 2010
Advisors: Clark
Thesis: Economic Development and Infrastructure Investment at the Port of Brunswick
Thesis Committee: Clark, and Stiftel
Undergraduate Education:
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
BA, Economics
