The 4+1 Accelerated Master’s in Community Development and Planning provides an opportunity to earn a pathway to a master’s degree — with one year of additional study and 100% tuition scholarships for the fifth year. Position yourself for career advancement as you engage with graduate students and network with working professionals.
Why pursue the 4+1 Accelerated Master’s in Community Development and Planning?
You’ll gain the skills needed to be a partner and ally in a community’s transformation. Grounded in principles and practices of ethical community engagement, we provide students with knowledge and skills in finance, project management, monitoring and evaluation, geospatial analysis, and nonprofit leadership.
Our degrees inspire you to develop equitable solutions to urgent social, political, and ecological challenges. Through our program, students are equipped to build a more just and sustainable world.
Deepen your knowledge of community development challenges
Develop critical skills to catalyze institutional change
Collaborate across disciplines to understand and address complex social-ecological challenges
Gain real-world experience to build professional skills and knowledge
The Accelerated Master’s in Community Development and Planning requires a minimum of 10 graduate course units, combining skills and methods courses and elective courses that link theory with practice. Students are required to take one internship or experiential learning unit.
For details about graduate studies in Community Development and Planning, visit the program page.
Our alumni work locally and globally to make a difference in the fields of youth and education, food security, urban planning, affordable housing development, economic and workforce development, and public health. They bring a focus on equity and social justice to their many and varied roles:
Director of Organizational Effectiveness, Foodshare, Bloomfield, Conn.
Associate Director, Economic & Workforce Development, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Director of Fixed Assets, Mosaic Housing, Charlotte, N.C.
Senior Manager, Neighborworks America
Director of Programs, Girls, Inc. of N.Y.
Manager of Fund Development, The Community Builders, Boston, Mass.
Senior Planner, City of Worcester, Mass.
Eligibility
The 4+1 Accelerated Master’s is open to all majors, minors and concentrations in the social and natural sciences, and humanities, especially international development and social change, urban studies, geography, environmental science, business, economics, sociology, political science, and community, youth, and education studies.
Students are required to meet with the community development and planning accelerated degree program adviser before April 1 as a formal part of the admissions process. This meeting is intended to assist prospective students in assessing the appropriateness of the degree to their professional aspirations.
Explore the Accelerated Master’s in Community Development and Planning
