Masters in planning with international focus

[Northway]

I have a bachelors in political science with a focus on developing areas from a top university in Canada, and a few years experience teaching ESL in Korea, as well as some political campaigning in the States. Obviously, not a lot of direct planning experience. I'm interested in doing a masters in planning with an international focus, ideally with a fair bit of environmental planning in the mix. I was wondering if there are any schools in particular that fit what I'm looking for. I saw NYU's Wagner has something along these lines, but the price tag is prohibitive. I have great GRE scores and location isn't super important, fwiw. Feel free to tell me if what I'm thinking isn't really viable, as I'm a total newb and just trying to figure out what kind of options are out there. Thanks in advance.

[ddomin4360]

I have a bachelors in political science with a focus on developing areas from a top university in Canada, and a few years experience teaching ESL in Korea, as well as some political campaigning in the States. Obviously, not a lot of direct planning experience. I'm interested in doing a masters in planning with an international focus, ideally with a fair bit of environmental planning in the mix. I was wondering if there are any schools in particular that fit what I'm looking for. I saw NYU's Wagner has something along these lines, but the price tag is prohibitive. I have great GRE scores and location isn't super important, fwiw. Feel free to tell me if what I'm thinking isn't really viable, as I'm a total newb and just trying to figure out what kind of options are out there. Thanks in advance.

Rutgers has an international planning concentration. I was going to do it, but I opted for a concentration that was slightly less policy/theory based.

[Owego]

I'm going to bump this because I'm interested in the topic. More specifically, what schools have the strongest programs in International planning? I'm especially interested in South and Southeast Asia.

[csld09]

I've always assumed that "international planning" education is the term for "a program that doesn't require me to learn about the planning specifics of the state/region the program is in, so I'm not left with a locally-primed skill set." If this is true, a good program to consider in the northeast is Tufts. Check out their program and its curriculum at http://ase.tufts.edu/uep/Degrees/MA.aspx and see what you think. For example, there's no core course on the legal aspects of planning in Massachusetts, which is a required course here at UMass. My impression of the program is one focused on issues of Environmental Justice and International Policy. Depending on the sort of role you envision, Tufts could be a good match. You may see some of the same financial elements you saw with NYU, but I don't know how many students are in the respective programs, which obviously bears on the funding potential.

For even broader academic applicability, another program to consider for international policy work is Yale's Master of Environmental Management, at http://environment.yale.edu/academics/degrees/mem/. I know that it isn't a planning degree program, but it is very geared towards international work, and - as you would expect - it has some excellent placement connections. While expensive, the program also works hard to give people the skills needed to fund their studies through outside sources. Many students take the first semester or two on the chin, and find some decent funding for their remaining time. (I think they landed four or five Switzer fellowships last year.) The school's environmental element might be a good match for your interests, and while it's selective, it's admissions aren't as forbidding as anything called "YALE" might initially seem. That said, if policy is close enough, you've got a whole bunch of other programs to consider.