Compare 20 Urban Planning PhD Programs in the US

Grad School Navigator tracks 20 Urban Planning PhD programs in the US across 20 universities. 26% report the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as a requirement. Most programs take about 60 months, while published annual tuition ranges from $13,140 to $56,850. Start with the ranked programs below, then use Explorer to compare the details that matter to your shortlist.

Top Programs

Sorted by Grad School Navigator University Rank. Each row also shows QS, Times Higher Education, U.S. News, or Academic Ranking of World Universities positions when available.

  1. 1

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Planning

    Application deadline
    Dec 15
    Annual tuition
    $49,580
    Program duration
    60 months
  2. 2

    University of California, Berkeley

    Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning

    Application deadline
    Dec 15
    Annual tuition
    $28,242
    Program duration
    60 months
  3. 3

    Columbia University

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning

    Application deadline
    Dec 11
    Annual tuition
    $56,840
    Program duration
    96 months
  4. 4

    Cornell University

    Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning

    Application deadline
    Dec 15
    Program duration
    60 months
  5. 5

    University of California, Los Angeles

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Learning

    Application deadline
    Dec 1
    Annual tuition
    $32,109
    Program duration
    60 months
  6. 6

    University of Michigan--Ann Arbor

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning

    Application deadline
    Jan 15 +1
    Annual tuition
    $56,850
  7. 7

    University of Washington

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Design and Planning

    Application deadline
    Jan 15
    Annual tuition
    $33,171
    Program duration
    24 months
  8. 8

    The University of Texas at Austin

    Doctor of Philosophy in Community and Regional Planning| Historic Preservation

    Application deadline
    Dec 15 +1
    Annual tuition
    $23,302
    Program duration
    72 months
  9. 9

    University of Wisconsin--Madison

    Doctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning

    Application deadline
    Oct 15 +1
    Program duration
    24 months
  10. 10

    University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign

    Doctor of Philosophy in Regional Planning

    Application deadline
    Sep 15 +1
    Annual tuition
    $16,092
    Program duration
    48 months

Use detailed filters for tuition, deadlines, duration, admission requirements, and rankings in Programs Explorer. Compare programs and create your application shortlist.

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Popular Criteria

See programs that match these criteria.

No Graduate Record Examination required10Lower annual tuition2Application fee waived1

Complete Program List20 programs

The complete list of Urban Planning PhD Programs, ranked by their global university rank first.

First programs in this cohort
RankUniversityProgramDuration
#3Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDoctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Planning60 months
#6University of California, BerkeleyDoctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning60 months
#12Columbia UniversityDoctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning96 months
#13Cornell UniversityDoctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning60 months
#17University of California, Los AngelesDoctor of Philosophy in Urban Learning60 months
#19University of Michigan--Ann ArborDoctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning
#25University of WashingtonDoctor of Philosophy in Urban Design and Planning24 months
#31The University of Texas at AustinDoctor of Philosophy in Community and Regional Planning| Historic Preservation72 months
#33Georgia Institute of TechnologyDoctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning
#35University of North Carolina--Chapel HillDoctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning
#38University of Wisconsin--MadisonDoctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning24 months
#41University of Illinois--Urbana-ChampaignDoctor of Philosophy in Regional Planning48 months
#42University of Southern CaliforniaDoctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Development
#64University of Maryland, College ParkPhD in Urban and Regional Planning and Design48 months
#65University of California--IrvinePhD in Planning, Policy & Design72 months
#93Texas A&M University--College StationDoctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Science72 months
#95Ohio State University--ColumbusDoctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning48 months
#96University of FloridaDoctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning
#301–400University at Buffalo--SUNYDoctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning
#401–500Florida State UniversityDoctoral Program in Urban and Regional Planning

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More Program Intelligence

Programs Explorer brings full program records, comparison tools, and proprietary intelligence into one workspace. Compare these 20 Urban Planning PhD programs in the US and build your shortlist with evidence from 900,000+ real application shortlists.

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Explore all 20 programs in Programs Explorer