Student Corner

The LA APA provides this section of the website for current and prospective planning students. Please click on one of the links below to learn more about planning schools in the area, as well as related resources or events. If you have any requests for this section, contact the webmaster.

Schools

Student representatives: Robert De Forest, Poppy Gilman, and Krista Colson

UCLA's Department of Urban Planning, established in 1969, is known for its progressive curriculum that promotes cultural diversity, community activism, international development, environmental quality, and social justice. The department takes full advantage of its location in Los Angeles, an extraordinary laboratory for learning about every aspect of urban and regional planning and public policy, from housing to toxic waste disposal, urban design to mass transit, community advocacy to regionalism, site planning to multi-cultural arts programming, job generation to historic preservation.

The Department prepares students for a wide variety of professional roles in policy making and planning in the public domain. It provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the many forces that shape a community's well-being. Through course work and internships, students acquire the professional skills needed to guide the complex, interrelated processes of social and economic change on any geographic scale.

For more information, go to the School of Public Affairs, Department of Urban Planning website.

Master of Planning Program, School of Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California

Student Representatives:  Reyna Alorro, Ben Saltsman, Elaine Kam

The accredited USC Master of Planning program, housed since 1998 in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, began in 1955. The program prepares students for a wide range of careers through a curriculum that offers knowledge of the field's theoretical foundations and its practical applications, often taught by leading professionals from the region. The program is committed to offering students the opportunity to explore planning issues in local, national, and international environments. Students have praised the program's international (e.g., China and Brazil), national (e.g., New Orleans and the US-Mexico border), and local planning studios. SPPD provides a rich academic environment that offers students many opportunities for practice- and policy-oriented research positions. Students can draw upon SPPD courses in real estate development, public policy, health policy, and public management, as well as in architecture, geography and other USC units. Our students are positioned at the hub of the Los Angeles region, the largest planning job market in the world, just a short ride from the planning offices of city, county, and regional government, and of major consulting firms and nonprofit agencies.

For further information: http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/. 

Student representatives: Hector Solis, Steven Kim, and Manuel Munoz

The Cal Poly Pomona Urban and Regional Planning Department, established in 1965, is recognized as a national leader in planning education. It is the only accredited undergraduate planning program in Southern California, and one of the largest in the nation. Accreditation teams give the program very high marks for the quality of teaching and the professional readiness of its students. Cal Poly Pomona has an extensive network of alumni in the field and an excellent reputation in the profession. In addition, students learn planning in a college with architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, and artists, thus enriching their education. Undergraduate and graduate planning students have active student organizations that enhance the educational experience through field trips, professional activities and community service.

Please contact the Department at (909) 869-2688 or through e-mail at urpdept@csupomona.edu. The department will send you information, arrange a meeting with faculty, arrange a class visit and/or tell you about other activities in the Department. The Department has an informative web page that can be found at http://www.csupomona.edu/urp.