Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning

City and regional planning (M.R.P., Ph.D.). Students learn to design, evaluate, and implement policies and programs that affect the social, economic, and physical development of urban and regional areas, including those in the Developing World.The educational program fosters theoretical and conceptual knowledge relevant to urban and regional studies, and the acquisition of professional skills, including those in critical thinking, oral presentation, writing, statistical analysis and Geographical Information Systems. The M.R.P. program normally requires four residence units, sixty credits, a set of core courses, and the completion of a satisfactory thesis, professional report, or research paper. At the discretion of the faculty, up to one residence unit and 15 credits may be granted, by petition after matriculation, for graduate work done elsewhere, including Cornell-supervised professional field experience. Doctoral degree candidates often begin in Cornell's Master of Regional Planning program, applications are also welcomed from outside the university.

Recent Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) graduates in city and regional planning have gone on to distinguished careers as professors at prestigious institutions, high level positions in the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, and top spots in federal agencies and nonprofit research, policy, and cultural organizations. Only a small number of Ph.D. students are accepted each year, most of whom have a master's degree in planning. Students design their programs of study after choosing a doctoral committee of three faculty members representing their major (City and Regional Planning) and two minor fields.

All applicants to the PhD program must have a master’s degree. Applicants admitted to the Ph.D. program who do not hold an M.R.P. degree from a recognized program will be expected to exhibit (or gain) basic competence in the master’s core areas (history, theory, methods) as needed to serve ably as a teaching assistant.

English Language Proficiency Requirement

IELTS Academic - 7.0; TOEFL - The Graduate School’s official minimum sub-scores for each element of the TOEFL iBT are: Speaking: 22, Reading: 20, Listening: 15, Writing: 20. A minimum TOEFL score of 600 (paper-based) or 250 (computer-based) is required.