Admissions and Financial Aid

Application Deadlines

The deadline for Fall term applications for maximum financial aid consideration is January 5. (Please note: This is not an absolute deadline but it is desirable to have your application complete as close as possible to January 5.) Most applications are reviewed in late January and February. For fall term, completed applications will be accepted through June 1 for international applicants residing overseas and July 1 for international applicants residing in the US. August 1 for domestic applicants or until the class is filled. For Winter term, the application deadline is October 15 for international applicants and November 15 for domestic applicants.

Application Process

All Michigan Urban + Regional Planning Program applicants are required to apply online. The online application allows you to complete your application, submit your statement of purpose, personal statement and an (optional) resume. You can start your application, save the information you enter, and come back as often as necessary to finish the application before actually submitting it. Click here to apply now.

Application Fee

U.S. citizens and permanent residents: $60 (USD)
International applicants: $75 (USD)

You should pay the application fee via credit card when you apply online. This fee will not be waived.

Statement of Purpose

There are no requirements for length. The typical length is 2 double-spaced pages, with doctoral statements tending to be somewhat longer than masters. We want to find out how you arrived at your decision to pursue a MUP or Ph.D., what you plan to do during the course of your studies, and how you hope to use your graduate education in planning. See also the Ph.D. application link for more information on the statement of purpose: http://www.tcaup.umich.edu/urpphd/eligibility.html

The instructions for the Statement of Purpose on the Rackham online application are different from those requested by the Urban and Regional Planning Program. Please follow the suggestions above.

Personal Statement

The Rackham Graduate School now requires a "Personal Statement" in addition to the Statement of Purpose. For this personal statement, please write a brief (one-half-page to one-page), non-academic statement about how your personal background and life experiences, including social, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan. This is not an academic statement of purpose, but a discussion of the personal journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree.

Recommendations

Recommendations must be submitted online. You will be prompted to register recommenders using the online application, enabling recommenders to submit letters of recommendation electronically. Recommenders will complete the recommendation form and submit a letter electronically.

If necessary, you may give your recommenders a paper copy of the recommendation form (PDF), which they should submit with their letter and send directly to Urban and Regional Planning Admissions.

If you are having recommendations sent from your University's Career Center, no cover sheet from U–M is required.

Two letters of recommendation are required for M.U.P. At least one recommendation should be academic if possible, although others (such as employers) may be used. Additional recommendations can be submitted if desired.

Transcripts

One set of official transcript(s) from each college or university you attended must be submitted to Rackham Graduate School Admissions. If you were admitted and your degree program is in progress at the time of admission, you may receive a conditional offer of admission from the Rackham Graduate School. You must provide official final transcripts/records as soon as possible after they are available. These records must show the conferral of your degree. Academic records certified by notary publics are not official.

Viewing Your Application Status

Once you have submitted your online application you will receive an email from Rackham with instructions on how to access your application status. Viewing your application status online will allow you to verify application data, see when your recommendations, transcript(s), and test scores are in, and view confirmation that your application is complete. You can also update your contact information. It is important to update your address for mailings over the summer.

Notification of Admission & Financial Aid Decisions

Once a decision is made on your application it can be viewed online. For fall term applicants, decisions should be posted beginning the last week in February. If you are admitted, you will be able to see that you have been recommended for admission by the Urban and Regional Planning Program. Notification letters will also be mailed. Merit aid award decisions by the Urban and Regional Planning Program will be noted in the letter of admission. The next step is for Rackham Graduate School to review the recommendation of admission, certify and process the admission recommendation.

For more information on the admissions process see: http://www.rackham.umich.edu/Admis/before.html

Once you have made your decision

It is important to enter it online so that other student service offices are aware of your decision. Please go to Wolverine Access, Click on NEW 7 PROSPECTIVE STUDENT BUSINESS and enter your decision on your web application status "Student Reply."

Enrollment Deposit

To complete your acceptance of admission, the Urban + Regional planning program requires that you pay a non-refundable enrollment deposit of $200. The deposit will be applied to tuition for the term to which you are admitted.

The quickest and most convenient way to pay your $200 Enrollment Deposit is online via Wolverine Access on the same page where you are able to view your admissions decision. Through the online system you must pay via an electronic check payment (either a savings or a checking account); please have your routing number ready.

If you prefer to send your payment through the mail, you may do so by including a check or money order with the Enrollment Deposit form. The EDR (Enrollment Deposit form) may be printed from Wolverine Access. Please mail the form and your $200 payment to:

Student Finanncial Services
The University of Michigan
2226 Student Activities Building
515 East Jefferson
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1316

Send the following materials to Urban Planning Admissions at this address:

Urban and Regional Planning Admissions
Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning
University of Michigan
2000 Bonisteel Blvd. Ann Arbor, MI 48l09-2069

• Any recommendations that cannot be submitted online.

(Make sure your recommenders know that their letters must be submitted with the recommendation form. The form is available at this link: http://www.rackham.umich.edu/Admis/pdfforms/RecFormPaper.pdf There is no need to submit transcripts from the University of Michigan since we have access to those.

Send the following materials to Rackham Graduate School at:

Rackham Graduate Admissions
University of Michigan
915 E. Washington St. Ann Arbor, MI 48l09-2069

• Official Transcripts from each college or university attended.

For International Applicants Only

Rackham will send the affidavit at the time the admission is finalized.

Dual Degrees

If you intend to pursue a dual degree, you must apply to each program separately. It would also help us if you clarified in your statement of purpose that you intend to pursue a dual degree.

Formal dual degrees

MUP/MArch
MUP/MBA
MUP/JD

The most common student-initiated dual degrees

MUP/MSW (Social Work)
MUP/MS (in Resource Policy and Behavior, SNRE)
MUP/MPP (Public Policy)
MUP/MPH (Public Health)
MUP/MLA (Landscape Architecture)
MUP/MFA (Fine Arts)
MUP/MS in Resource Ecology and Management
MUP/MS in Information
MUP/MUD (Urban Design)
MUP/UM Concurrent Undergraduate/Graduate Study (CUGS Program)
MUP/Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning

Information About the Field of Urban and Regional Planning

Two good websites that can give you an overview of the world of planning are:

www.planning.org

www.acsp.org

The first comes from the American Planning Association and contains a discussion of educational opportunities. The second is the site of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, which is the North American organization devoted to urban planning education and research. Explore both. Feel free to contact us for a more personal discussion about urban and regional planning studies at the University of Michigan If you have questions about our program that can't be answered on our web site, let us know.

GRE

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) taken within the past five years is required for all applicants. Schedule a test at: http://www.gre.org. If you are taking the GRE after the application deadline of January 5, 2009, do not wait to send your application in. It will help us to begin processing your application so that it is ready for review once your scores are in. If you have taken the GMAT or LSAT, we can use those scores in place of the GRE.

Timing of the GRE: It takes 2 weeks for the Educational Testing Service to process your score. A tape of scores is sent to Michigan 1-2 times per week depending on volume.

Send test scores to the following codes

	Institution	Department
TOEFL	1839	97
GRE	1839	4402

TOEFL (International Applicants Only)

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or MELAB test of English fluency is required of all international students except those who have received a degree from an institution where the language of instruction is English. International students who did not attend an institution where the instruction is in English will also be required by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies to take the Academic English Evaluation (AEE) test after arrival on campus before classes begin. TOEFL scores take 3-5 weeks to be processed and entered on the Michigan database. A completely computer-based test is the fastest, 3 weeks.

Required TOEFL Scores for Urban Planning

	Paper	Computer Based	iBT
Rackham	560	220	83
Urban Planning	600	250	100

I-20

For international students, the pre-enrollment material includes an I-20 needed to obtain a visa. ("Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status - For Academic and Language Students") The I-20 is given for 3 years for a masters student and 5 years for a Ph.D student. This allows for the possibility that you may need more than 2 years to complete a masters and more than 4 to complete a Ph.D.

Residency

If you have questions about Michigan residency requirements see the newly revised regulations at: www.umich.edu/~regoff/resreg.html

If there is any question about whether you are a resident of the State of Michigan, it is best to file a residency application as early as possible.

Cost of Attendance

Total tuition listed below are per term (14 weeks, one-half an academic year) for the 2008-09 academic year for Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning.

• Michigan resident, per term (9 or more credit hours): $10,107 ($20,214)

• Nonresident, per term (9 or more credit hours): $15,625 ($31,250)

Tuition is set annually by the Regents of the University of Michigan in June.

For more information on additional fees see:

http://www.umich.edu/~regoff/tuition/full.html

For estimated student budgets see:

http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Financial_Aid_Basics/cost.asp

Housing

A majority of our students live in off-campus housing. The first place to look for housing is University of Michigan's Housing website:

http://www.offcampus.housing.umich.edu/lt/

Also See:

http://www.mlive.com/apartments/index.ssf?aa?referencemap

Housing advice from M.U.P. '06 graduate, Brandon Zwagerman (305kb PDF)

International Center

The International Center provides a broad range of services for the University of Michigan community. Our students recommend attending their various social events as well. See http://internationalcenter.umich.edu/

Campus Information Centers

Information for getting around and living on campus. See http://www.umich.edu/~info/

Urban and Regional Planning Merit-based Financial Aid

There are no forms to fill out to be considered for merit-based financial aid. See “Financial Assistance Interest” on the application. If you check yes to the question: “Are you interested in financial assistance from your program of study?” you will be considered for aid on the basis of merit within the applicant pool, subject to the availability of funds.There is no need to specify which type of award you would prefer. Asking to be considered for aid has no bearing on the admissions decision.

Need-Based Financial Aid

The University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid administers federal loan and Work-Study programs for graduate students. To be eligible you must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-U.S. citizen (permanent resident with alien registration card).

http://www.finaid.umich.edu/gradaid.htm

You do not need to be admitted to the University before submitting the FAFSA. To apply for financial aid for Fall/Winter, complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) between January 1 and February 15. Although you may submit the FAFSA later (by April 30), early application is strongly advised and ensures you will be considered for all aid for which you are eligible.

For those applying for admission later in the admissions cycle

Since we have a rolling admission policy, many students will be submitting their FAFSA later than April 30. It will be considered late but you are still given 30 days to submit your application from the date that Rackham officially admits you. It is still possible to apply for need-based aid through the Office of Financial Aid though financial aid budgets and opportunities tend to lessen later into the spring and summer. Low interest loans may not be available. It is the students responsibility to contact the Office of Financial Aid to document that they were a late admit.

It is recommended that you complete the FAFSA on the web at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Forms are also available from 1-800-4FEDAID, or from any college financial aid office.

Be sure to list the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Federal School Code number 002325).

Work Study

All graduate students, with the exception of those in Law and Medical School, may apply for Work-Study and/or loan assistance through the Office of Financial Aid (OFA). Loan programs available include the Federal Perkins Loan and Federal Stafford Loan programs. This office also offers short-term, emergency loans. Students should apply as early as possible. For further information, particularly on deadlines, contact OFA at 2011 Student Activities Building or (734) 763-6600.

Tuition Payments

The University of Michigan requires payment of tuition, fees, room and board charges by the end of the first month of each term. The payment schedule for academic year 2008-09 is summarized as follows:

Fall: August 31, 2008

Winter: January 7, 2009

The University will continue to offer a budget plan, administered by Academic Management Services (AMS) that allows students to spread their payments for Fall and Winter terms over ten months. Applications for this program are mailed to all students the first week of May.

Questions: Call the Student Financial Operations office at (734) 764-7447 or toll free at (877) 840-4738.

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