Welcome to urban and regional planning at UTSA! Planning is a systematic, creative way to influence the future of neighborhoods, cities, rural and metropolitan areas, and even the country and the world. Students, faculty, and staff here are part of a top-tier, Hispanic thriving university where aspiring students from all backgrounds experience a professional planning education leading to a bold future. We leverage our location in San Antonio, the city of the future, to facilitate learning about urban and regional planning that serves communities near and far. Use this information page to review our program outcomes, and learn more about the M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning degree or Graduate Certificate, and join our impactful research and inspired teaching.
—Program Leader Dr. Greg Griffin, AICP
Contact
Greg P. Griffin, PhD AICP
Lutcher Brown Fellow, Associate Professor, Graduate Advisor of Record and Program Leader – Urban and Regional Planning
Architecture and Planning
greg.griffin@utsa.eduExplore our program below
Urban and regional planning at UTSA prepares planners to meet known and emerging urban and regional challenges, inspired by our values of collaboration, innovation, and inclusiveness.
TSA Urban and Regional Planning is a full member of the American Planning Association (APA), which includes free student memberships. The Urban Planning Student Association at UTSA is a registered planning student organization with APA.
The program is also a member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), which connects educators, researchers, and students, to advance knowledge about planning education and research. View the list of member schools .
Planning Accrediation Board ( PAB) awarded Candidacy Status to our MSURP through December 31, 2024, while the program is considered for full accreditation. Students who graduate after the beginning of the fall term of the academic year in which the site visit occurs for a program subsequently granted accreditation shall be considered to have graduated from an accredited program.
| Student Achievement | The Urban Planning Student Association (UPSA) won the 2020 Outstanding Planning Student Organization Award, American Planning Association. MSURP students presented research at the 2020 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, 2022 Texas APA Conference, and are published in academic journal articles (ex. Jobe and Griffin, 2021, Griffin and Spencer, 2021). Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Graduate Fellowship, US FHWA: David Robinson, Jr. (2020), Isaac Levy (2020) UTSA School of Architecture + Planning Top Urban and Regional Planning Master's Project (2021-22): Emmalyn Terracciano, "Winter Storm uri and the Texas Energy Crisis: Implications for Climate an Energy Justice in San Antonio, TX" |
| Resident Tuition and Fees, Full-Time Fall 2022/Spring 2023 | $9,857 |
| Non-Resident Tuition and Fees, Full-Time Fall 2022/Spring 2023 | $27,805 |
| Retention and Graduation, Percentage of students who began studies in fall 2020 and continued into fall 2021 | 69% |
| AICP Certification, Percentage of master’s graduates taking the AICP exam within 5 years who pass, graduating class of 2016 | 75% |
| Employment, Percentage of full-time graduates obtaining professional planning, planning-related, or other positions within 12 months of graduation, graduating class of 2020 | 75% |
|
Achievement Name |
Student Learning Outcome |
Assessment Method |
Result (semester, sample size) |
|
Student Learning Outcome 1: Planning Discipline Knowledge |
Demonstrate planning discipline knowledge (such as history, legal principles, planning theory, factors and patterns of human settlement) at conceptual and application levels. |
95% of students score a B or higher on the general planning essay question (Comprehensive Exam) at first attempt. |
100% (Spring 2021, N=2) |
|
Student Learning Outcome 2: Research Design |
Design a research question and successfully utilize the appropriate quantitative, qualitative, or spatial analytic techniques to explain local and regional conditions to answer it in an applied and/or scholarly environment |
95% of students pass with a grade of B or higher on Professional Report or Thesis on their first attempt. |
100% (Fall 2021, N=3) |
|
Student Learning Outcome 3: Communication |
Communicate effectively to internal and external stakeholders, including integrating public engagement in planning processes in oral, written, and graphic forms. |
95% of students score a B or higher on the internship deliverable addressing communication on the first attempt. |
100% (Spring 2021, N=1) |
|
Student Learning Outcome 4: Specialization |
Apply knowledge of their chosen specialized area(s) of planning practice to regional through international planning contexts, while recognizing the interconnectedness of place and interdisciplinary nature of planning. |
95% of students score a B or higher on the electives/specialization essay question (Comprehensive Exam) at their first attempt. |
100% (Spring 2021, N=2) |
|
Student Learning Outcome 5: Ethics |
Apply the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in the leadership of planning processes, and demonstrate a commitment to sustainable and socially just development. |
95% of students score a B or higher on the ethics module assignment (URP 5413 Planning Practice and Ethics) on at first attempt. |
100% (Spring 2020, N=19) |
Program classes are offered at the Downtown Campus, with some classes offered online. The URP Student Handbook includes more about how to succeed in the urban and regional planning program, and updates including the Urban and Regional Planning Seminar schedule.
