Cal Poly Update | The e- Newsletter for University Alumni and Friends |

Cal Poly: A Top School for Urban Planners

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly’s Master of City and Regional Planning program ranked highly in the Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs.

Photo of students in a city planning exercise in Ventura The new graduate school reference guide published by Planetizen is the leading on-line network for the urban planning community. It’s the first independent guide with systematic rankings of 94 graduate planning programs in the nation.

The guide includes rankings of the top programs by region and specialty, in addition to the top 25 overall programs.

Cal Poly’s Master’s in City and Regional Planning (MCRP) program was ranked 25th in the nation overall, and 8th in the West. Nationally the program ranked number one in zoning administration; number six for land use planning; number nine in the technology area; and 19th for reputation.

“This is an exceptional accolade as Cal Poly is the only non-doctorate granting institution to rank in the top ten in these specialty areas,” remarks CRP Department Head Bill Siembieda. “This top ranking validates the very high quality education students are receiving at Cal Poly. It is the best professional planning education value in the country.”

"This new guide will be a resource for people interested in pursuing a career in urban planning," said Chris Steins, co-editor of Planetizen. "Unlike most other fields such as business or medicine, there was little information prospective graduate students could use to compare urban planning programs. This guide fills an important void in the marketplace, and will help bring attention to the profession."

Interest in urban planning is on the rise. With the United States recently passing the 300 million population mark, and with estimates projecting 100 million more Americans in the next 30 years, coping with urban growth is becoming a major issue in many regions across the nation.

For more information on Cal Poly’s MCRP program visit http://planning.calpoly.edu/. For more on Planetizen, go to www.planetizen.com.

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