Program Overview

Students in the PhD program work closely with faculty to develop knowledge and research skills in economic, environmental, physical, and social aspects of planning. Our graduates hold faculty positions in major universities in the United States, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, and Taiwan, and work for the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and other Federal and state government agencies. The approximately 25 PhD students in residence take advantage of incredible resources of the university, comfortable and affordable living in Champaign-Urbana, and the opportunity to work with and teach the 50 students in our Master of Urban Planning program and the 110 students in our Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning program.

Faculty

PhD students work with outstanding faculty from the Departments Urban and Regional Planning, Agriculture and Consumer Economics, Architecture, Economics, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, and Women in International Development and have access to faculty throughout the campus.

Research Opportunities

Research strengths among our faculty include regional economic analysis and policy, transportation, urban development patterns and processes, planning analysis and information technology, housing and community development, and international development. In addition to working with individual faculty, research opportunities with major continuing projects include the East St. Louis Action Research Project, the Expert Planning Information Laboratory, the Land Use and Evolution and Modeling project, the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, and the DesignWorkSpace.

Curriculum

The PhD curriculum is designed for students who have completed a master's degree in urban planning or a closely related field. Students will, therefore, already have taken a set of required courses and should be ready for coursework focused on preparing for the qualifying examinations in planning theory, research methods, and a substantive area of intended research. Faculty advisors and the PhD Program Coordinator provide guidance in selecting coherent sets of courses appropriate for individual students.

Students are required to take 64 graduate hours of credit, usually 32 graduate hours of courses and 32 graduate hours of dissertation research. A student with a master's degree in a closely related field, but not in planning, may be required to take more than 32 graduate hours of course work to fill gaps in preparation. Careful selection of additional courses may permit such students to also obtain a Master of Urban Planning degree while working toward the PhD.

All students must take an advanced planning theory course. Students without prior course work in planning theory must take an introductory planning theory course before taking the advanced course. Of the remaining seven courses, one will usually be in research design, two in research methods and four in the student's substantive area.

All students must pass a qualifying examination covering planning theory, research methods, and a substantive area of intended research. The qualifying examination is tailored to the focus of each student and includes a written portion and an oral defense before a committee. The content of these exams and the courses to prepare for them vary depending on the type of research the student chooses to pursue. For example, research methods may focus on qualitative or quantitative approaches. The substantive specialization may be defined by functional attributes, such as transportation or land use, cultural and institutional situations, such as international development or community development, or tools development, such as regional economic modeling or planning support systems.

A successful dissertation in planning reports original research on a subject appropriate to the field, the results of which produce significant advances in knowledge about that subject. Each student takes a Preliminary Examination, which is an oral examination based on the dissertation proposal and is administered by the student's dissertation committee. Upon approval of the dissertation proposal, the candidate may proceed with the research, written analysis, and findings. When the candidate and supervisor agree that the research and writing are complete, the candidate is ready for the final examination, which is a defense of the dissertation before the committee.

Time Limits

For students with a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois who continue directly to the PhD there is a total of seven years allowed from the time they started their Master’s to completion of the PhD. For students who return for a PhD after a substantial period after completing their master's, have a master's degree in a field closely related to planning, or enter with a master’s degree from another university, there is a total of six years allowed to complete the PhD from the time of matriculation in the program.

Organizational Structure & Responsibilities

The PhD in Regional Planning is administered as a program in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. In addition to the faculty of the department, several faculty from other departments are identified as PhD Program Faculty and are eligible to serve as chair of dissertation committees and primary advisors. All of these faculty are actively engaged in the curriculum and admissions decision making of the program.

Day to day tasks are the responsibility of the PhD Program Coordinator, who is appointed by the Department Head. For questions about the PhD program, please contact:

Professor Daniel Schneider
PhD Program Coordinator
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
111 Temple Buell Hall
611 Taft Drive, Champaign, IL 61820
Voice: 217-244-7681
Fax: 217-244-1717
E-mail: ddws@uiuc.edu