About Us

Big university. Small department “feel.”

Planning at Illinois is one of the leading planning programs in the U.S., and one of the few to offer four degrees spanning all levels of study—undergraduate, masters, and doctoral. We are an intellectually exciting, creative, and forward-thinking community of students, scholars, and planning practitioners. With our strong emphasis on personal connection and individual attention, we combine the leading-edge resources of a world-class university with the approachability of a small and welcoming community. We prepare excellent practitioners and develop new ideas to support just, sustainable urban environments.

As a department within a land-grant university, we maintain strong connections with our community, the State of Illinois, and the Midwest region, but our reach extends well beyond these boundaries to have an impact on planning practice and scholarship that is national and international in extent. Our teaching and research operate at multiple scales—blocks, neighborhoods, cities, regions, nations, and the world. We conduct research across the globe, and we seek a student body that is diverse not just in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity, but also in terms of regional and national origin.

In short, Planning at Illinois means choice, depth, breadth, and diversity. It also means impact: through engaged teaching, innovative research, and a core emphasis on equity and justice, we help communities chart their unique paths toward environmental, economic, and social sustainability.