Dual Degree
Carolina Planning students may pursue a dual degree that combines their planning education with studies in five of UNC’s highly regarded graduate school programs, as well the College of Design at North Carolina State University. Carolina Planning has dual degree programs with business, law, landscape architecture, public administration, or public health (including Environmental Science and Engineering). Students in these programs are admitted into each program separately and are awarded two degrees upon completion.
How to Apply
You must apply and be admitted separately to each program. Students may apply to both programs at once or may choose to apply to a second program during the fall of their first semester.
Milestones
Students entering the dual degree program can start in either program, but the student must make this choice at the time of admission. For reasons of credit, most students choose to begin the planning program in their second year after completing a year with another program. All of the dual degree programs allow you to shave a year off the time it would normally take to pursue the two degrees individually.
Requirements
The current MCRP requirements include 51 total credit hours:
- four (4) core PLAN courses (12 credit hours),
- four (4) PLAN specialization courses (12 credit hours),
- one (1) Law requirement,
- six (6) PLAN and non-PLAN elective courses (18 credit hours),
- fulfill capstone requirements of workshop (3 credit hours, PLAN),
- and Master’s Project (3 credit hours, PLAN).
Planning students pursuing any dual degree must complete nine (9) PLAN courses (27 credit hours), a Law course approved by their advisor (3 credits), the capstone requirements of workshop (3 credit hours, PLAN), and the Master’s Project (3 credit hours, PLAN). The remaining 18 credit hours come from the student’s other master’s program. Any 15 credit hours taken in the other program can be counted as electives for the MCRP degree.
Some programs have capstone paper requirements similar to the Master’s Project. Students often are able to combine these research or practice-oriented projects to help them synthesize knowledge from both fields.
When degree requirements for each program are fulfilled, students receive the MCRP degree and the second degree.