2024 Best Urban & Regional Planning Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Urban & Regional Planning is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #92 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 13 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Urban & Regional Planning Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 321 master's degrees in urban & regional planning to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Urban & Regional Planning School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of urban & regional planning for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality urban planning program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to urban & regional planning students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other urban & regional planning students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for urban & regional planning to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized urban & regional planning related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for urban & regional planning students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Urban & Regional Planning Schools

The urban planning school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Urban & Regional Planning Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Urban & Regional Planning in the Southeast Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for urban & regional planning students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in Urban Planning

1

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Atlanta, GA

40 Annual Graduates

$58,367 Median Starting Salary

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in urban & regional planning. Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Atlanta.

Those urban & regional planning students who get their master's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn $6,546 more than the average urban planning student.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

2

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

19 Annual Graduates

$50,920 Median Starting Salary

University of Virginia - Main Campus is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in urban & regional planning. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the urban planning program state that they receive average early career wages of $50,920.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from University of Virginia - Main Campus

3

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

44 Annual Graduates

$54,757 Median Starting Salary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a good option for students interested in a master's degree in urban & regional planning. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the urban & regional planning program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earn $2,936 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

17 Annual Graduates

$50,902 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Florida if you want to pursue a master's degree in urban & regional planning. UF is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Gainesville.

Students who graduate with their master's from the urban planning program report average early career income of $50,902.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from University of Florida

5

Auburn University
Auburn, AL

17 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Auburn University

6

Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA

13 Annual Graduates

$49,661 Median Starting Salary

Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.

Soon after graduating, urban planning master's recipients usually make about $49,661 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Virginia Tech

7

Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

30 Annual Graduates

$49,041 Median Starting Salary

Florida State is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Tallahassee.

Soon after graduation, urban planning master's recipients generally earn an average of $49,041 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Florida State University

8

University of Georgia
Athens, GA

9 Annual Graduates

UGA is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Athens.More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from University of Georgia

9

Clemson University
Clemson, SC

15 Annual Graduates

$47,481 Median Starting Salary

Clemson is a very large public university located in the suburb of Clemson.

After graduating, urban planning master's recipients typically make about $47,481 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Clemson University

10

Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL

9 Annual Graduates

$53,988 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Boca Raton, FAU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those urban & regional planning students who get their master's degree from Florida Atlantic University make $2,167 more than the typical urban planning student.

More information about a master’s in urban & regional planning from Florida Atlantic University

Best Urban & Regional Planning Colleges by State

Explore the best urban & regional planning colleges for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	113
Georgia	190	52
Virginia	182	32
North Carolina	178	53
Tennessee	166	7
Alabama	151	23
Kentucky	147	8
Louisiana	147	10
South Carolina	146	22
Mississippi	145	1

View All Rankings >

Urban & Regional Planning Related Rankings by Major

Urban & Regional Planning is one of 8 different types of Architecture & Related Services programs to choose from.

Urban Planning Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Urban & Regional Planning, General	321

Majors Similar to Urban Planning

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology	474
General Architecture	233
Landscape Architecture	71
Real Estate Development	55
Interior Architecture	28
Architectural History	10
Environmental Design	4

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Arcaddmarketing. More about our data sources and methodologies.