The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture was recently recognized for its Master of Science in Planning program in the fourth edition of the “Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs.” The program is ranked eighth out of 34 in Top Programs without a PhD and ninth out of 33 in Top Small Programs.
Janice Cervelli, dean of CAPLA, said the program does an outstanding job in education and preparing practicing planners to work at public agencies and private firms.
“[Students] have strong professional skills to walk right into the workplace and to help lead the communities in developing planning policy,” Cervelli said.
A CAPLA press release said the undergraduate architecture program was ranked by America’s Best Architecture Schools 2014 in the Top 20 Programs 2015.
The Greenway Group, in association with Design Intelligence and Architectural Record, arranged the rankings this year.
The press release provided an explanation of the ranking process, stating that the participants are taken from the Greenway Group database of firms throughout the U.S. Greenway then asks 89 deans and chair of different architecture schools what they consider to be “significant issues facing architectural educators today.”
According to the press release, the group then polled 2,760 architecture students about their satisfaction with their education.
Robert Miller, director of the School of Architecture, said the school works hard to put graduates out into the marketplace that are ethical, skilled, knowledgeable and have a good work ethic and attitude. He also said the students know the current software that firms are using.
“This school, started in 1958, has concentrated on professional education, and while it might seem that all schools of architecture that offer accredited degrees do that, it’s not really true,” Miller said.
Miller said the recognition of the programs is a great indicator of their success.
“The people that hire graduates from different schools around the country are turning to us now and recognizing that we consistently produce really good graduates,” Miller said.
Miller added that the importance of the ranking this year is representative of how the program fares long term.
“It’s possible to pop in for a year or two,” Miller said, “but what really matters is if you’re getting in that more consistently.”
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