This is a guide to the Joint Program in Urban Transportation, offered by Civil Engineering (CE) and City and Regional Planning (CRP).
For City Planning grad students, the attraction is that, with a little more work, you can receive both the MCRP and an MS in Civil (Transportation) Engineering. This can materially improve your job prospects if you want to work in transportation. So if you’re interested in transportation planning, is this a no-brainer? Not exactly. The Joint Program is by far the most technically demanding of all the CRP specializations, and if you have an aversion to quantitative methods, then it is not for you (try Educational Policy and Leadership, law, or perhaps basket-weaving).
For Civil Engineering grad students it’s a bit more problematic. The MS is a 50-credit-hour degree, while the MCRP requires 90 credits. So for a CE student the marginal cost of the second degree will be much greater. Nonetheless, there may be good reason to consider it: the focus of the MCRP is on social-science approaches to the evaluation of public-sector activity and this perspective can be a valuable complement to the more technical content you learn during your MS studies. Also, there may be financial aid available to you for your MCRP year. See next section.
If you are already admitted to the CRP graduate program, you must apply and be accepted by CE. This can be done at any time. Note, however, that as a member of the OSU Graduate School you are entitled — with permission of your advisor, and assuming you meet any formal course requirements — to take courses in CE whether or not you are admitted to their graduate program.
Application for admission to CE formally involves requesting CRP to send a copy of your file to them, with a covering letter asking that you be considered for admission. The only complication involves the timing of the application. CE expects some math background in their applicants, and if your undergraduate major was, say, Art History, then you will not appear to be a good candidate, no matter how great your innate math abilities may be. In light of this, the optimal strategy for a CRP grad student wishing to be admitted to CE is probably along the following lines:
If you are already admitted to CE’s graduate program, you must apply to and be accepted by CRP. This involves requesting CE to send us a copy of your file, together with a cover letter requesting that you be considered for admission. Since CRP admits students from a wide variety of backgrounds, the question of your undergraduate degree will not usually arise.
CRP runs an extensive Internship program, which provides placement with a paying employer and a tuition and fee waiver at OSU. If you have a CE degree, you are extremely well-qualified for one of these positions, provided your English is fluent. In order to maximize your chances of obtaining an Internship starting in the Autumn of your second year at OSU, you should see Professor Morrow-Jones (Internships Chair) in CRP during the Spring quarter of your first year.
Normally, students in the Joint Program will receive both their degrees according to Plan B (examination). CRP offers its master’s exam, called the Comprehensive Examination, once during each of the Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. The exact date is decided early in the quarter: see Ellen Wallace (Knowlton Hall, room 100A) for details. You may take the Comprehensive Examination at any time, though ordinarily it is taken in your graduation quarter. For details on the CE exam scheduling, see Professor McCord.
It is possible to receive either (or both) degrees via a thesis option (Plan A): CE encourages you to do this if you plan on getting a PhD from them. You may wonder whether the same thesis can be used to satisfy the requirements of both programs. According to the Rules of the Graduate School, the answer is a qualified Yes, provided that:
If you are interested in this possibility, you are encouraged to consult early with faculty members of both CE and CRP on possible topics, and firm up all necessary committee members.
At OSU, the minimal number of credit hours you must take in order to be making “normal progress” towards your master’s degree depends on a number of factors.
Summers: after three consecutive quarters of full-time enrollment, you may take a “vacation quarter”, when you are not enrolled at all. (Of course, during a vacation quarter you can enroll for some courses if you’d like to; in this case you’re not limited by any minima). You must notify the Office of International Education before taking a vacation quarter.
Remember that the requirements listed here are minimum requirements: you may take more, except that without special permission you may not take more than 18 in any one quarter. Finally, note that these apply to students in master’s programs. If you are a doctoral student, the rules are somewhat different, and you should consult the Graduate School Handbook.
Registration: University regulations require that you be enrolled in the program awarding your degree in the quarter in which you get the degree. This means you will need to file at least one change-of-program petition. It is completely routine, but needs to be done.
Unique Courses Requirement: For joint degree programs, 50% of the courses to be counted towards each degree must be unique to that degree. What this implies is that, since the MCRP is a 90-credit degree program and CE is a 50-credit program, you must obtain 90 + 50/2 = 115 credit hours in order to receive both degrees.
General Program Requirements — MCRP
| CRP 643 | City Planning since 1900 |
| CRP 712 | Theory of City and Regional Planning |
| CRP 733 | Urban Planning and Urban Form |
| CRP 745 | Physical Elements |
| CRP 761 | Land-Use Controls |
| CRP 762 | Data and Forecasting |
| CRP 763 | Consequence Analysis |
| CRP 771 | Applications of Quantitative Methods |
| CRP 781 | Spatial Models |
| CRP 775 | Urban Transportation Planning ( = CE 775) |
| CRP 776 | Topics in Urban Transportation Planning |
General Program Requirements — MS in Civil Engineering
| CE 670 | Urban Public Transportation |
| CE 672 | Traffic Engineering Studies |
| CE 775 | Urban Transportation Planning ( = CRP 775) |
| CE 873 | Transportation Demand Analysis |
| CE 874 | Transportation Network Analysis |
| CE 990 | Civil Engineering Practicum |
CE math requirement: Civil Engineering requires 5 credit hours of approved mathematics courses, which you would normally meet via courses in statistics. Two basic strategies are:
Most 500-level (or higher) statistics courses will be acceptable substitutes for the MCRP statistics requirement (CRP 771), though you should formally confirm this with Professor Morrow-Jones before enrolling in one of them. In the program sketched out below, I assume you take both CRP 771 and Statistics 520.
CE Practicum requirement: CE 990 (5 credits) is available in Autumn, Winter or Spring, but may be taken only by students in the Joint Program, and only once. The format is that the student finds a position with a transportation-related company or agency, works there (with or without pay) for approximately 10 hours per week, writes and turns in a 2-page weekly summary of his or her activities (using guidelines set by Professor McCord, who expects it to take a few hours to prepare), and meets with him for about 20 minutes every other week. Professor McCord often helps the student find the position through his contacts, but he does not ask his contacts for a paid position. If the student finds his or her own position or gets the company or agency to pay, all the better.
The following schedule will enable you to meet all requirements of the Joint Program. Note that by taking more than the number of credits shown here, you can reduce your need for summer courses. Alternatively, you could skip summer courses, and finish up in an eighth quarter.
Much of your first year will involve your taking the core courses in the MCRP program, plus the occasional CE course as your schedule permits.
| CRP 643 | City Planning since 1900 | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 771 | Applications of Quantitative Methods | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 793 | Orientation Seminar | 1 cr | |
| CRP 775 | Introduction to Transportation Planning | 4 cr | Web site |
| Electives | 3 cr |
Notes: This assumes that you will take CRP 771 (4 cr) and then Statistics 525 (3 cr) next Autumn to fulfill the CE statistics requirement. However, if you have a good background in statistics, you may wish to take Statistics 520 (5 cr) in this quarter instead of 771; but note that you will need to adjust your program accordingly.
| CRP 761 | Land Use Controls | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 745 | Physical Elements | 5 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 733 | Urban Planning and Urban Form | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| (Electives) | (3 cr) |
Notes: most graduate students consider this to be an exceptionally demanding quarter, and you may wish to take as few electives as you can, in order to make time for 745. I assume you take only 13 credits this quarter.
| CRP 712 | Theory of City and Regional Planning | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 762 | Data and Forecasting | 5 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 781 | Spatial Models (microeconomics) | 4 cr | Web site |
| CE 873/874 | Demand or Network Analysis (see note) | 5 cr |
Notes: CE 873 and 874 are offered in alternate years. You should take whichever is offered this year. You may wish to put off 712 until next spring, since (unlike CRP 762 and 781) no other courses assume the knowledge in this one; otherwise you have a very full schedule.
You should register for enough credits to bring your total to at least 50.
| CRP 763 | Consequence Analysis | 4 cr | Web site |
| CE 672 | Traffic Engineering Studies | 3 cr | |
| Statistics | 525 | 3 cr | |
| CRP Studio Course | 5 cr |
Note: choose from any studios that are offered, for example: CRP 749, Developing Countries Studio; CRP 821, Regional Planning Studio; CRP 851, Urban Precinct Planning; CRP 853, The Urban General Plan. Not all of these may be offered (and not necessarily in this quarter): consult the CRP course sheets for details.
| CRP 776 | Topics in Urban Transportation | 4 cr | Web site |
| CE 990 | CE Practicum | 5 cr | |
| Electives | 5 – 8 cr |
See above for a discussion of the CE 990 requirement.
| CE 670 | Urban Public Transportation | 4 cr | |
| CE 874/873 | Network or Demand Analysis | 5 cr | |
| Electives | 3 – 7 cr |
Notes: You should take CE 990 (Practicum) if you have not already done so.
CE 874 and 873 are offered in alternate years; you will already have taken one of the two.
If you put off CRP 712 (Theory) from last Spring, be sure to take it now.
Total credits accumulated so far should be at least 95.
You should arrange to take both the CRP and CE masters’ examinations at the end of this quarter. At this time you will have enough credits to receive the MS degree, so you should be sure to register in CE for this quarter.
You should register for enough credits to bring your total to at least 100. If you have already taken one CRP Practicum, you may not take another one.
Register for enough credits to bring your total to 115. You will receive your MCRP degree at the end of this quarter, so be sure you are registered in City Planning.
We assume here that you decide sometime in your first two quarters in the CE program that you’d also like to obtain an MCRP. This is important, because you should take CRP 781 (spatial models, ie microeconomics) in the Spring of your first year, since it is a prerequisite to CRP 763 (consequence analysis), offered only in the Autumn. However, if you have already had an undergraduate microeconomics course, then you may be able to avoid 781: check with Professor Viton before you decide on your Spring quarter courses.
Once accepted into the MCRP program, you will receive your MS in the Spring quarter of your first year — be sure you’re registered with CE when you do — and then transfer to CRP for the remainder of your work.
Follow the normal MS plan of study, which structures your course load so that you can receive your MS at the end of the Spring quarter. You might want to take the CRP orientation seminar (CRP 793, 1 cr) during the Autumn quarter.
| CRP 781 | Spatial Models | 4 cr | Web site |
| CE 670 | Urban Public Transportation | 4 cr | |
| Other electives for your MS degree. | 7–10 cr |
Notes: You are permitted to take several CRP courses as electives for your MS degree; but you need not do so.
You should take the CE master’s examination during this quarter, and arrange to receive your MS at Spring commencement. Remember that you must be registered in CE to do this.
You should register for enough credits to bring your total to at least 55.
Most of year 2 is devoted to the core MCRP requirements.
| CRP 643 | City Planning since 1900 | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 763 | Consequence Analysis | 4 cr | Web site |
| Electives | 7–19 cr |
Notes: this assumes that you have already taken CE 775 (= CRP 775) for your MS work.
| CRP 712 | Theory of City and Regional Planning | 4 cr | Syllabus |
| CRP 762 | Data and Forecasting | 5 cr | Syllabus |
| Studio Course (see below) | 5 cr | ||
| Electives | 1–3 cr |
Notes: choose from any studios that are offered, for example: CRP 749, Developing Countries Studio; CRP 821, Regional Planning Studio; CRP 851, Urban Precinct Planning; CRP 853, The Urban General Plan. Not all of these may be offered (and not necessarily in this quarter): consult the CRP course sheets for details.
Your total credits should now be at least 95.
You should register for enough credits to bring your total to at least 100. You may not take more than one CRP Practicum.
Register for enough credits to bring your total to 115. Take the MCRP Comprehensive Examination. Since you will receive your MCRP at the end of the quarter you should be sure to be registered in City Planning.