Masters Program

The SCARP Masters Program is a generalist degree providing basic expertise across a number of substantive areas and the ability to critically integrate perspectives from each area. The program's strength is in the diversity of its faculty and students.  Students earn either a Master of Arts (Planning) or a Master of Science (Planning) depending on their undergraduate degree. All students entering the program are eligible to take any course offered as part of the School's curriculum.

The Masters Degree requires the completion of sixty credits of course work (the equivalent of 16 one-term courses plus an academically oriented thesis or 18 one- term courses plus a professionally oriented project). The program generally takes 24-36 months to complete.  Students design their individual program of studies with the assistance of a Program Advisor who is a faculty member assigned to them at the beginning of the first term. Once a Research Supervisor is selected, this SCARP faculty member assumes all advising responsibility.

Masters Program requirements are amended from year to year. Students must satisfy the regulations that existed when they first enrolled. If students have any furthur questions about their program requirements they should speak to their Program Advisor.

Students enter the program once a year in September. We do not offer admission in January. The academic year is divided into terms: Term 1 - September to December; Term 2- January-April. Although limited, additional courses are also offered during the summer (May to August). Once a student is in the program they must maintain continuous registration until they have graduated. In special circumstances, a leave of absence (maximum six months) is possible.

Entering students are required to attend non-credit orientation sessions in the week preceding the start of classes. These include an introduction to faculty, staff and other students and a comprehensive review of the School's curriculum.

Focus Areas and Specializations

To assist students in designing their programs in ways appropriate to their specific interests and SCARP’s strengths, six focus areas and two specializations Focus Areas and Specializations have been identified by the faculty. Each year Focus Area & Specialization Advising Guidelines will reflect the courses being offered and the faculty members available for supervising research. These concentrations and combinations of them reflect the expanding scope of professional planning and thus the increasing relevance and applicability of a planning-based education to problem-solving in both the public and private domains. They also acknowledge that while planning, as the systemic application of knowledge to societal problems, may have a common theoretical and procedural base, it is impossible for any one student in a two-year program to master all the substantive knowledge and specific skills relevant to the expanding profession today.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

The following summary provides information related to educational outcomes of the SCARP master’s program.

The integration of policy and planning research, professional education, and community service is central to SCARP’s mission. This integration is achieved cumulatively in the educational experience through core and elective courses, internships, professional development opportunities (e.g., annual student-organized symposium), and the master’s project or thesis.

Student achievement is measured by graduates’ satisfaction with their overall, integrated educational experience. Exit surveys of recent graduates (approx. 90% response rate each year) show this satisfaction to be very high:

Student achievement is also demonstrated through the master’s professional project or thesis, which is a requirement of the program and an integrated, capstone experience. The project/thesis is assessed by the faculty supervisor and either a second reader (for projects), who is usually a practicing professional, or an examining committee (for theses). In the last 3 years (Fall 2010 ~ Spring 2013), 100% of graduates produced a project/thesis that met or exceeded the program’s expectations. (This is defined here as a grade of 80%, which at SCARP indicates “normal standing for graduate students,” or higher).  

In recent years (Fall 2008 ~ Spring 2012), nearly half (45%) of SCARP master’s students completed the program within 2 years, 72% within 2.5 years, 92% within 3 years, and 93% within 4 years.

SCARP’s retention rate for 2012-13 (the percentage of students entering in 2011-12 who returned to study to SCARP in 2012-13) was 100%.

Twenty-five master’s degrees were granted in 2011-12, and 36 in 2012-13. 

Between 2004 and 2011, the exam pass rate for SCARP master’s graduates who attempted the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam was 100%.  As of May 2013, no graduates from the last three years (2009-2012) have taken the AICP exam.

According to our most recent alumni survey (2012), 86% of SCARP master’s graduates who sought employment were working in a professional planning or planning-related job within 1 year of graduation. Exit surveys of graduates from the last 3 years (Fall 2010 ~ Spring 2013) indicate that at the time of graduation, 44% of students had already accepted a planning-related job offer.