Master in Urban Planning and Master in Public Administration
Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) offer a joint degree program in public administration and urban planning.
The joint degree program permits students to pursue a Master in Public Administration (MPA) or Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) degree at HKS and a Master in Urban Planning (MUP) degree at the GSD. Both degrees are completed in three years, rather than the four years that would be required if the two degrees were pursued independently. Students in a joint degree program must complete all of the requirements of both the MPA (or MPA/ID) and MUP degrees.
A committee made up of GSD Professor Ann Forsyth and GSD Professor Jerold S. Kayden (“Faculty Committee”) oversees the degree program. The Faculty Committee is responsible for making decisions regarding the structure and requirements of the program and for working with students.
overview
Prospective MUP/MPA or MPA/ID students must apply, and be separately admitted, to the GSD and HKS, each of which will independently review and admit applicants.
Prospective MUP/MPA or MPA/ID students may choose to apply to the GSD and HKS at the same time in advance of admission to both schools, or to the GSD or HKS during their first year at the school to which they have already matriculated. Students interested in applying to either school should be careful to observe the application deadlines for each school.
Students admitted to both schools at the same time must inform both schools of their enrollment decision no later than the deadline set by each school, and they must indicate their intention to pursue the joint degree program and at which school they plan to begin their studies. Students admitted to the GSD or HKS during their first year at the other school must inform both schools no later than the deadline by which they must accept admission that they intend to pursue the joint degree program.
Students in the joint degree programs have three academic years to complete both degrees and are required to spend three terms in residence at the GSD and three terms in residence at HKS, for a total of six terms. During the third year of the joint degree students are in-residence in both schools simultaneously. In three years, students must satisfy all curricular course requirements for both the MUP and MPA or MPA/ID programs.
In the first two years of the joint degree programs, students are required to enroll for one full year of study at the GSD and for one full year of study at HKS. Either can come first. In the third year of the program, joint degree students will be considered simultaneously enrolled in both schools.
For more information, please refer to the Joint MUP/MPA Degree Plan (PDF).