Community and Regional Planning

Dual Degree: MCRP with MS in Civil Engineering

The increasing complexity of issues relating to physical, economic, and social well-being in the world today is requiring broader knowledge and greater depth of understanding by decision makers who are attempting to resolve those issues and thereby improve the quality of life. Professionals in the fields of civil engineering and planning are commonly called upon to assist in the definition and resolution of these complex issues.

Persons who are educated both in civil engineering and in planning are uniquely equipped to understand many of these difficult problems. They are better prepared than many other professionals to identify the most appropriate technical, institutional, and policy alternatives that address such problems. Historically, there has been a strong tradition of interdisciplinary cross-over in the types of problems addressed by civil engineers and planners. In fact,many practitioners provide individually, or as members of interdisciplinary teams and firms, professional services in both fields.

Based on the reality of continually expanding interdisciplinary professional challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities, this dual degree program offers a means by which students may concurrently complete requirements for both the Master of Science (MS) in Civil Engineering and the Master of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) degrees in an estimated two-and-one-half years of full-time study.

This dual degree program utilizes the frameworks and faculties of existing academic degree programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This program draws upon the existing required core and elective courses in the MCRP degree program, as well as existing courses in either the transportation, water resources, or environmental engineering specializations of the MS in Civil Engineering degree program.

The intent of this dual degree program is to prepare students for a variety of professional roles in which the knowledge, skills, and background of both the planner and civil engineer are important. These roles include, but are not limited to, professional work in the following areas:

• city planning and management
• land use planning and growth management
• subdivision planning and site design
• land development
• transportation planning
• traffic engineering
• environmental engineering
• environmental planning
• water resources engineering
• water resources planning

Persons completing this dual degree program will have the opportunity to attain professional status in either or both of the planning and engineering professions. Planner/engineers find challenging professional positions in a wide variety of private sector and non-profit organizations, in all levels of government, as well as international settings.