‘We don’t make students wait until they earn a degree to make a difference.’
-Nancy Frank
Interim Dean, School of Architecture & Urban Planning

Innovative and award winning, nationally accredited and embedded in a top research university, the School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) nurtures next-gen architects and planners for impactful careers in design, planning, social entrepreneurism, economic development, sustainability and more. SARUP faculty support eight graduate degrees, one undergraduate degree and they have helped thousands of alumni launch successful careers over the school’s first 50 years.

SARUP Graduate Programs


Master of Architecture/M.Arch

A professional program that prepares students for employment as licensed architects, our M.Arch program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Two-year and three-year tracks of study are available depending on prior education and experience.


Master of Urban Planning/MUP
Fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board, the MUP is a professional degree program designed to prepare students for careers in public planning agencies, nonprofit organizations or in private practice.

Master of Urban Design (MUD)
Advanced degree program that provides students with the knowledge and skills to create sustainable, equitable, and prosperous urban spaces for present and future generations in rapidly changing urban environments.

Master of Science in Architecture (MS Arch)
Advanced degree program enrolling students and returning mid-career professionals in an individualized program of architectural studies centered on scholarship and research.

Master of Architecture/Master of Urban Planning (M.Arch/MUP)
A joint degree program that combines curricula in two in-demand professions – architecture and urban planning – into a three- or four-year course of study depending on prior learning.

Master of Urban Planning/Master of Science in Engineering (MUP/MS)
This dual degree program trains early- and mid-career engineers and planners to understand the human and technical aspects of urban mobility.

Master of Urban Planning/Master of Public Administration (MUP/MPA)
Dual degree program combining professional training in planning with applied administrative and managerial skills. Choice of concentration in public administration – administrative law, public-sector budgeting and finance, government public relations/advocacy and more.

PhD in Architecture (PhD)
Anchoring SARUP’s reputation as a leader in architectural research and education for nearly 40 years, the Arch Ph.D. program is a community of scholars, practitioners, activists and educators committed to advancing the discipline and practice of architecture. Curiosity-driven, action-oriented and attracting an international cohort of students focused on studying complex issues in design and community engagement.

DESIGN AND PLANNING IN ACTION

With one foot in professional practice and the other in research, SARUP faculty have created an academic community researching sustainable and socially just ways to change the world . SARUP studios and courses can’t single-handedly solve wicked problems, but our faculty take seriously a commitment to preparing students who graduate ready to contribute to:

  • Planning equitable, livable communities from suburban Milwaukee to megacities in Asia, South America and Europe.
  • Elevating values in the design professions to address inclusion, equity, sustainability and diversity.
  • Supporting economic development and reinvestment in underserved communities.
  • Rethinking traditional forms of professional practice in architecture.
  • Designing dynamic urban spaces.
  • Preserving vulnerable rural and urban ecosystems.

RESEARCH LOCAL/ACT GLOBAL

For many of our graduate students, this work begins in or near our Milwaukee hometown. Faculty and student research and site-specific projects have helped bring nutrition to food deserts, expand access to waterfront neighborhoods, make roadways safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, redesign industrial spaces, and research and reinvest in historic urban neighborhoods.
In the architecture programs, semester-long elective studios are paired with architecture theory and history courses. Urban Planning workshop courses engage students in solving the real problems of project clients.

Fall 2020 studios and workshops offer a faculty-student ratio of 1:12 at the graduate level and provide an intense, highly specialized look at emerging issues in design and planning.

Fall 2020 studios and seminars include:

  • Marcus Prize Studio with Tatiana Bilbao
  • Visible Certainty-Diagramming & Mapping Info
  • Built Environment & Real Estate Development
  • Frank Lloyd Wright Design Language Seminar
  • Rural Futures

FACULTY

Faculty arrive at SARUP from Chicago, Milwaukee, London, Mumbai, Iran, Xuzhou and beyond, and have collectively written more than 60 books used by schools and practices around the world. Fourteen faculty preside over their own firms and studios off campus, building bridges between their private practices and SARUP studios. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has awarded four current SARUP faculty with its top teaching award. Planning faculty serves on the governing boards of American Planning Association-WI and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

STUDENTS

SARUP students join the school from ten countries and 20 states, bringing with them regional and personal perspectives on how design and planning is working now, and can work better, to enhance the built and natural environments in a broad range of contexts and communities.

Fifteen graduate assistantships are available to students in 2020-21 and awarded based on academic excellence. The school participates in tuition reduction programs for Minnesota residents and residents in seven other midwestern states.

COMMUNITY AND CLIMATE

SARUP makes its home on the northwest corner of the UW-Milwaukee campus. Sunlight, green space, common areas and studios are key features of our X,000 square foot building. Prototyping and woodshop laboratories, a gallery, lecture hall and in-house library are among the amenities available.

A robust calendar of lectures, design competitions and research presentations create community within SARUP and make the school a destination for visiting practitioners and scholars in global design and planning.