Teach
Teach our students the knowledge, skills, and values they need to be confident, principled, and visionary planners, using Colorado as our classroom to engage students in real-world, experiential learning.Inspired by our setting in the downtown of a thriving urban center in the dynamic Rocky Mountain region, our mission is to:
Advance
Advance the field of planning through insightful, relevant research that directly informs policy and design, and improves our built, natural, and social environments.Serve
Serve as a vital resource for communities and professionals, and help develop sustainable solutions to our region’s complex planning challenges.Seven core values inspire all the work we do:
Program Performance Indicators
The Planning Accreditation Board requires this information be posted for the University of Colorado Denver Master of Urban and Regional Planning program.
Student Achievement
A key element of the mission of the MURP program is to “teach our students the knowledge, skills, and values they need to be confident, principled, and visionary planners, using Colorado as our classroom to engage students in real-world, experiential learning.”
In the semester before graduation, MURP students complete a Capstone project—a professional project for a real client. This project, conducted about a topic and for a client of the student’s own choosing, represents the culmination of our students’ academic careers and highlights their unique areas of interest and the skill set they gained through their self-directed elective curriculum. Evaluation by the clients, and by the students themselves, demonstrates the degree to which we have successfully achieved our mission.
Our flexible schedule and self-directed curriculum allow our students to work part-time in professional jobs or internships during the academic year. Additionally, non-resident students are eligible for residency after one year of living in Colorado (see our Colorado Residency page for more information.)
We are a member of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's Western Regional Graduate Program (WICHE-WRGP), which allows any student who is a resident of one of the 15 western member states to qualify for Colorado resident tuition for their entire time in the MURP program. For more information, see the official WICHE-WRGP webpage.
The MURP Program Strategic Plan
In February 2022, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning engaged in a year-long Strategic Planning process to develop its next five-year plan, for 2022-2027. After gathering multiple sources of input from students, alumni, part-time faculty, employers, and other professionals, the full-time faculty finalized and adopted the plan on March 15, 2023. Click here to download the 2022-2027 DURP Strategic Plan.Department News
MURP Alumni Association
Join MURPAA
MURP alumni work throughout the U.S. and abroad and maintain close ties to the MURP program through the MURP Alumni Association (MURPAA). As a result, MURP students have numerous opportunities to engage with MURP alumni, learn from their experiences, and build relationships that will last a lifetime.
The MURP Alumni Association’s mission is to further the enduring educational interests, social diversity, professional development, and charitable support of CU Denver MURP students, alumni, and the communities they serve. MURPAA will encourage participation in the affairs of the College of Architecture and Planning, the University of Colorado Denver, the greater Denver Metropolitan Area, and the Intermountain West.
Learn more about the MURPAA, read about our diverse alumni, and discover alumni-focused programs and events.